Mulberry Tree

(Written for Journeys Festival)

 

The mulberry tree

Leaves save my seat,

With one crushed to my step

And pressed onto new roads I walk

That feel like home with the leaves

Stood on the corner like a welcoming party

Casting familiar forgiving shade.

 

And the mulberry tree

Drops fruit on my tongue.

As we move the colours wane

And the cherry-plum pales

To uninviting shades of maggot

That could crawl on my lips

But seem to taste the same.

 

And the mulberry tree

Grows its roots sideways,

Tendrils tentative and ready to

Take flight, to sprint towards the horizon,

To safe shores and

Sullied beach swims with

Autumn’s corpses underfoot.