green shoots

in the spring
green shoots curl
around my toes
and the wind
sings into my veins

wild twist of blue
this river winds
through the root fingers
of willow and wild rose

down by the water
brambles hold me fast
cling to my skirts
and hush my whispers

blood from thorns
sweet like flowers
eaten from their stems
wild as the river shaking
the banks loose
of last season’s skin

the floods of winter
have brought me treasures
of seeds and stickers
weathered roots and red stones
that mark the place the sun stood
as I danced myself free
of the darkest days

in the daytime sky
the moon grows fat
and rolls across the hills
I watch her in the mirror
of this water
rippling and turning
as the first flowers open

as the green shoots unfurl
and red dirt drinks me in