(no subject)

[_s_h_]

i wed you in the early afternoon,
beneath the parsley tree.

your father cried and your
mother smiled
a special smile for me.

late that night you came to me
hair lovlier than a tree
and in sweet surrender sang to me
a song most curiously

and with what started as a grin
i watched your peckish face
the expression that you held there
seemed increasingly misplaced
and the lyrics then

"deep within my childhood
I met a man
so wet with sweat and licorice
i could not help but take him in
he was gone before the morning
but he left a note that read

"'my name is the parakeet
my body is my own
while love may be around you
dont keep your dreams your own
but also a wary eye upon how others speak
my name is the parakeet
and my body is too free'

"for half the world I loved you
with what seemed like love to me
but inside of the autumn
half the world was not so free
with bats upon my curtails
and the color red upon my brow
i take my leave of you and love
a vagabond to be.

"you gave me something safe to hold
but i am not a holding girl
i will travel with the sea turtles
and never travel home
my love is yours and your love mine
but my love is also made for me
to give to flowers and to plants
to god and man and after that
to keep a bit for me"

and after that you silenced up
still-looking up at me
and with a kiss and a moments
pause
were gone so gracefully
and i alone was such a fool
to think i could catch love
and you, too, such a fool
to think i would not
understand.

summer passed beneath the parsley tree.