verse i

I knew madness once.

I kissed its tender cheeks

like wind worries the wheat.

I entertained its tales of woe

and let go of all I had known

Its taste was sweet

An easy release

But incomplete

And in the end I wanted more

verse ii

As I walked down to the river’s edge

I briefly wondered if you would follow

I thought it mattered then,

To be loved by men

But as I passed beneath tall trees

And ventured further out of reach

I felt the shackles fall away

And was glad to know you’d not come looking

verse III

As the crimson sun eked out its final glow

I dressed myself in ivy and promises;

Not to those who would have me scorned

But to birch and nettle with its thousand thorns;

To whispering leaves

And the murmurs of ancient beings

For ‘shallow’ and ‘weak’ and words such as these

Are not things of which the forest knows

verse IV

So gone the grandiose masquerade

Ornate facades concealing deceitful hearts

No longer did I yearn for hollow words

Of men who spoke of love with lips that planned betrayal

And as my unsoiled fingers brushed moss-clad stones

And bare toes met the cool caress of dew-kissed grass

Blossoms wove themselves into my disheveled hair

And I found, in the crystalline mirror, of a raging river

a wild beauty that answered only to my own gleeful yearning

verse V

At last I cast off this ridiculous veil

Of innocence and courtly pretense

32 leaves I’ve stitched within

Hazel, ash, elder, beech;

Rosemary, so I might remember

Or at least never forget.

I’d give you a pansy for your thoughts,

A black one to match your heart.

Oh, how I rue the day

I let your love sweep me away

Verse VI

This boundless river, once a siren's baiting call,

Consummate symbol of Eve after the Fall

Now whispers secrets only I can hear

Beneath a canopy of moonlit veil.

I’ve unearthed my voice anew

(I sing of flowers, for they know of truth)

My heart's lament become a melody,

Fragments of a mournful symphony;

My laughter, once stifled by the weight of uncertainty,

Now echoes like the call of so many wild things.

verse VII

So as the seasons danced their cyclical waltz

I feasted with the creatures of the woods;

Exchanging gossip with long-eared owls

Seeking guidance from gnarled oaks;

My dowry paid in harmony with an arboreal connection

My vanity eclipsed by a celestial reflection

Indeed in the keep of the forest

My only courtiers are fireflies

My only master: the moon.