Rosemary for Remembrance
wild rosemary memories
of the gardens of northern california
the sprig she cut for each of us
after the handfasting
is on my altar still
a decade and a half later
she was roomy and luxuriant
and he was mushroom puck
heavy earth mother bosom and
randy roving pan
an archetypal pair
but in our hearts we celebrants knew
their future would not be kind
rosemary for remembrance she said
handing me the cut and fragrant twig
her eyes wet with newfound love
as she hugged me to her thick breast
tears in a lace handkerchief
and fingers sweet with spring herb
a year later
her pan found me in a beltane bower
and tossed the condoms aside
This poem first published in Off the Coast.
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