Sweet-N-Citrus

A forgotten memory — The Lark’s poetry competition — runner-up in the competition

As English Ivy populates my body I lie with arms outstretched wide feeling more alive yet hidden behind the consumption of a living vine like an umbilical cord feeding me from beneath the deep down where the trees tingle in awareness and breathe for me

Call it an escape — call it a release — call it my mother summoning me as she weaves her entrails around my breasts — gripping between my fingers and legs — planting me in her soil and nourishing me again.

Take me — take me home — take me to the night air filled with the cicada’s song — to the meadow where the milkweed spreads along a split-rail fence — take me to the garden shed where the bees pollinate verbena and the humming bird nests in a slender branch hidden in the sloped birch tree.

Lay me — lay me down — lay me under those dangling leaves after the morning dew’s deposit of clear droplets — tempt to quench my thirst— yet remain latched — as if somehow inherent. Lay me beside the honey suckle bush that climbs a long-forgotten lattice — effusing her sweet and citrus elixir for those who frequent at twilight.

But don’t — don’t turn left — don’t turn down that gravel path for the dust stirring up from tire tracks might suffocate the memory of when you belonged to me.

© 2022 Breathe & Be Still — All Rights Reserved

Speaking of passion, I can think of no greater way to utilize the poet’s voice than to beckon humankind to repair its primary relationship with Mother Nature. We can heal nothing within ourselves and between one another without repairing this initial connection. As a mother, I have no greater need than this— to ensure the well being of our children — for in her bosom we are truly one.

Thank you to Denise Larkin for publishing my poems on The Lark and for hosting this poetry competition. What a great way to bring writers together and showcase our ceaseless toil with words.