eden

you've grown into oak,
tall
               and overpowering.

sometimes, i'm the sun which
makes you thrive.

sometimes, i'm the driest leaf,
fallen too

f a r

from your tree,
the crunchy kind that's always
the best ones to step on.

sometimes,
                  sometimes, i'm a vine, smoothing out the tough knots in your bark,
                  almost suffocating and i can s . e . e  that.

sometimes, i'm just plain old yellow gorse,
huddling, dispersed under your canopic branches.

and, more often than not, i'm an azalea plant,
growing right there beside you, always.