The Garden of Love

offering a petal

in your palms 

I made you the altar

for all my love songs

thirsty of togetherness

this powerful petal

defyingly grew branches 

forest thick, 

beauty, boundless 

adorning 

cuddling you, their altar

with time, the beauty fades

the branches slowly rotting

the forest forgotten

haunting 

your palms, like a strangers

feel unwelcome holding

that precious petal

in tears and trying 

gathering the

branches and forest

softly, in agony, I cry,

so precious, 

so much

hold how do I?

the beauty bounds

the rot branches prick, 

the lifeless forest holds

on to you, their altar

and then I remember 

dropping the branches, trees

the forest our togetherness made

only for my powerful petal 

do I need a new place

I hold my petal

close to my chest

searching, seeking

new palms hoping, 

praying

will be gentler

more nourishing

and on looking down

hungry for true love

this fertile petal

blossomed

into a flower, garden

made whole,

unbounding its beauty

embracing my core

I relieved, cry in joy

need no other place!

offering my petal

in my own heart

I made me its altar

nay, I made me the temple 

for all my love songs!

___

Thumbnail Photo by Tim Cooper on Unsplash