Hidden Open Sigh

For Shelley Colbert

despite 54 phylanges prying Fig roots from between the threads

of ancestors burlap, hands force each tendril to spread alone.

all the better to penetrate the waiting hole; pull it’s every

nutrient; gulp the sullied rain to nourish this awkward jutting

thrusting pole; moor these. my wind wild appendages

remain ever snatching at horizons. tensive bodies

celestial taunt. shimmer sing where we’ve been.

before tied to demanded chlorophyll smiles and earth

tears.

even as the sun

sets, limbs

twitch the moonlight

breezes. fret,

forget the rising

ever comes

again.

defiant, restless without moonlight under

a cotton sheet heavier than water ossified.

sap breaking sharp,

the taste of breath condensed

on my bark. hiding

my element calling

boughs. determined

protect my pitiable buds

from frost. until dew

and the shroud

removed.

allow this

blooming open sigh.