Friday Love Poems: Kat Guarascio!

Your Chosen Tree

Tall laurel stretched skyward.

These arms flail                        wildly,

always reaching too far,

serve better as branches,

break the sun from stony earth,

streak light across your face.

My hair,

the blending of so many green leaves

fall in phases of the year,

hides my spine in the form of autumn,

change from yellow                    to orange

to brown                                   to dirt.

I cannot be your lover despite clever disguise,

and I am too old to be a flowered bride,

whose petals you stroke and

call your lovely.

Let me be your tree.

I stand well on my own knotted knees,

my posture firm against the winking of eons.

Balance your steps

on my

rigid                 roots,

stare at my silhouette

blackened against setting sun,

touch my bark with tentative stroke.

My weathered skin

remembers past affections,

the words you carved

on my trunk remain there still.

And when I am no longer picturesque

and you no longer call me darling,

I will still hold

memory

in my gathering rings

and spout green leaves

to scatter

around              you.

Whenever you come looking

I’ll be where you left me,

happy to shade your head.

Take this token in place of me.

Be contented to wood and debris,

and regret not

your foolish play with bows and arrows.

Orange

You told me once,

when you

found me

at two am,

sitting cross legged

on linoleum floor,

pulling apart

sections

of an orange

to suck on the slices,

you can’t decide

which part of me

to forge

into a locket

so you could

fold yourself up,

held within

for always.

Katrina K Guarascio is a writer and teacher living in New Mexico. As an active member of the poetry community, she has worked as an editor for various literary magazines and small presses, along with hosting bi-weekly poetry workshops and producing various poetry performances, including The Smokin’ Slam, Rio Rancho’s only monthly Poetry Slam and Open Mic.

Along with many small press and e-zine publications, she is the author of two chapbooks of poetry and two book length publication previously released through Casa De Snapdragon publishing entitled A Scattering of Imperfections and They don’t make memories like that anymore...  Visit her Amazon author page at: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0039T049Q