autumn//proverbs

Petal Proverbs

Or Golden Rows Rules to Live By

Kneeling among the roses disregards their nonsense height and thorns

caught in nightshade tendrils.

A bell and a foghorn symphony shake even the geode skin around fractured hearts.

There is space on the floor and space in the water and space in the sky

For sleep and skin and stars.

There is no way to say goodbye because you’ve never left;

You harvested what fell to the ground, wrapped in papery skin, you climbed between the tomato vines and slept among the seeds like they were stars to guide you home.

Friends are easily lost on the way home and when they break into more than two dignified pieces; you may accidentally inhale the dust of convincing lament and keep going.

A gaggle and flock wait for your voice to rouse the roost and sink

halfheartedly, webbedly hissing, into the moonlit pink inky water beneath the dock.

They can’t steal what won’t start.

Love is an ingredient like acid and salt; it preserves what would have gone bad.