Sweetness

Suffering and I

Go way back

To the start, really

Why is the compulsion

To give away

Unexpected abundance

So great

For a wondrous gift

Held by outstretched arms

Waits to be gripped

In sure confidence

Heart is puzzled

How to actually hold it

Akin to darting fish

Slipping through a child’s grasp

Shallow waters

Cruelly belie the truth

Any moment now

The mirage will dissipate

It is monumentally difficult

To set down suffering

Weighty burdens have left

Permanent impressions

Marred shoulders

Supply ample evidence

When the sun shines

A blessing rolls my way

Disbelief bars immersion

In joy and grace

Fearing cosmic retribution

Will claw back every inch

Exacting a tally that will

Shred flesh

Leave a lasting scar

Even the oldest vines

Scrawl across stone

Tenacious tendrils grip

Granite’s rough face

Coiling around cold corners

Leathery leaves catch dew

As rain cascades

Down their tips

Moistening earth below

New verdant shoots burst forth

So will my pain shelter others

Nourish those more deserved

It is strange to press

A lemon into the side

Of my Roman nose

Absorb its tactile brightness

Alluring fragrance; profound pleasure

Instead of squeezing to death

A transient moment

I will endeavour to cradle

This golden span

Within the soft folds

Of my neck

The same way I borrow

Willowy branch tips

Run their furred kitten toes

Across lips

Honouring glorious spring

Winter will come for me

As it comes for all of us

But for a time

I will choose to settle

Into the warm glow

Of summer’s afternoon

When fall returns for me

I will glance back

Admire the fruits

Of my labour

When I plucked

A ripened pomegranate

Fed well by the orchard

From which

We draw life