"Tree in Winter"

BY NATE STAINS

We sprouted together in the springtime

our seed an equinox, we split down the middle

when opposites shared the same face

our time among the heather was young, we didn’t know then

that we might stumble alone

till the sun brought his benediction upon our days

and the night guarded love with his army of stars

under the moon we stood as titans, you in my arms,

branches out, rippling tenderly

not a word needed for in the silence

rooted deeply

was understanding, you see

we saw the world again through each other’s eyes

yet something I couldn’t recall

time thawed again and ran and ran, the messenger

brought trumpets of a searing dawn

and we stood laughing, throwing apples to the wind

that bore the boom of bolts fired from a canopy of cannons

and all the world whirled in a maelstrom of blades of grass,

cutting deeper with every whistled word

disguised disgust grew

before long,

those rains turned cold ‘fore the harvest

our lives an equinox, your separated boughs

sheltered me this time ‘till the fruit was bitter

our bark and branches aged, we didn’t know then that

beauty shone bright in ruination

till the moon’s prosecution ran cold in the night

and my pitiful tears froze like the northern stars

reflections in glass, a million effigies

flutter around me, little white crystal fingerprints upon my heart

now I’ve come to know the silence next to me

I’m hollowed

one last wish of mine, you see

would be to see the world again through your eyes

now I recall at my strength’s end

the cavity in my chest is not all darkness and sin, I’ll

light a hearth inside, I feel the

growth of love

in your memory I’ll long for you

and within I’ll house others from the wind

now eternal dreams draw near, I’m resting weary on a bed of diamonds

in the frost I’ll trace your smile I’ll see

before long.