In Love With Ivy

In Love with Ivy

As the trees started to rust
And the sky condensed into grey,
I began to climb into your opening mouth,
Your slowly warming words.

It was a new adventure
Full of beaming, blinding light
And sweet seclusion, where even
The little threat of danger seemed

Glorious in its thrill. And piece by piece,
I threw off my harsh bark
Exposing lushly vulnerable skin
To your stuttered advances, and made my own.

I purged my soul and fed it to
Your eager, cautious mouth, knowing
You coursed through me like ivy:
Cool, dark green, quietly poisonous.

Caught out at sunset in the wood of your heart
I stumbled and fell, shivered all night
In a rotted stump, scared by the blood
Which kept coming. But you must know

The choking bliss of those tentative days
Burns up any rancour or regret, leaving only
Quiet thoughts of twitching lips and held breath.
Trees hide their sorrow behind fresh growth.