Rust Can Never

Not clinging to waves of rumination
Nor bestowing attention ill-advised on
Scenarios of furrowed brow;
A being rests in golden field thereby.

A colour-soaked blossom sprung for me &
Subtly shifting hues were rung inside my chest.
I sang a praise to the red sun,
Whose lofty flourish trickled through
Canvas clouds, a bright prism
Of nature’s bliss.

I gently sacrificed a flower of red clover.
The savor of lightly bitter crimson
danced ballet upon my expectant palate.
The bees, sunshine flowers & laughing breeze
Consented to my feast and I gave thanks.

Replete with courage I burrowed
through shoulder high brush &
The lush vibrancy of thorns.
Summer cackled silently at human clumsiness &
Squawked in a reproachful homage to trampled comrades.

Yet it was not sharp vines of
luscious berry-laden branches that
Reached out with ice grey claws.
It was the cruelty of human ingenuity
that slashed into my flesh.

It was that hateful metal lattice
Dividing beast & man from which
I launched towards the verdant carpet
Of the forest floor that grinned expectantly.

Earthen clay slammed
a welcome upon my skeleton.
Eyes flashing youth shivered while
Letting go of a ghastly hand.
Sobbing miasma of isolation,
Cold pain, crimson ache of shock.
Strange memories flooded me;
They were not my own.

I threw my head back
and barked a harsh laugh of defiance
into the uncaring void, a panicked challenge.
I was sure there would be no answer when suddenly
The gentle voice of compassion replied to me
with the nectared wind of birdsong.
I smiled & climbed.

Was it then that I decided?
I shall not fear nor fret over
Mere quibbles, spilled milk or
Unsolved riddles of the cosmos.

Fat bumblebees & sanguine flowers,
Vines and thorns and awe-filled aeons
Of mud and grass, sun and silence taught
Me respect. I am whole. I learned that
Rust can never overtake human blood.

7/10/17
Daniel Pendergraft

@d-pend

Photos taken in "Pipe Field" in Boone, NC on 7/8/17