Truth (on my island)

Come visit me on my island
I have evicted the snakes
watched them swim and sink to a slow grave
have uprooted the apple tree
left it on the ground to rot that it might make
the earth more fertile come next spring or the one after
My island now is full of useful things that do not blossom
spinach, say, and leeks and kale

Come visit me on my island
And like a horse roll your back across the dirt
rub your mane in mud and put your hooves against the sky
get up fresh and sullied that you again might see
what you were like before kind fate waited on you at table
hailing you as the lost son I know in my heart
you still to be

I’ll feed you frugal things like flowers
make no mention of what we both know better
say that no, you haven’t lost your touch
Truth, love, is a fig leaf
We can ill afford

“Truth (on my island)” appeared in the first volume of
Aurora – The Allegory Ridge Poetry Anthology in 2020.