I am made from the raspberry that ripens in the fall

by Georgia Oakley

 

#1

I am made from the raspberry that ripens in fall 

I am made from the strand of hair a bird weaves into its nest 

I am made from the freckles of my mother 

I am not a lone being, grown solely from my own thoughts and actions 

How could I ever be? 

When I am made from everyone and everything around me 

 

#2

It is an ugly thing 

That those we love age at a greater rate than we do 

It would be a gift for my senses to dull 

as hers do 

so I don't have to see the way she declines before me

Hear her cries for my aid in something she used to do without a second thought 

I wonder if the trees feel this way about humans? 

Our relationship is likely more akin to that of a human and an gnat

human lives take up a mere speck of time compared to that of a tree

I am not offended 

I understand 

But I wish it were different 

But I am just a gnat 

A gnat forced to acknowledge the aging of their dog 

 

#3

I met a man in the woods today

He handed me a sparrow 

Soft as an angel in my hand 

I observed it's foot 

Silvered with the mark of the man

In the morning light shifting through the leaves 

My friend and I watched and learned

We held these creatures smaller than our palms 

So impossibly delicate,

Like children glee alit in our eyes

As we gazed upon the subjects of our adoration