flower crowned, bearing flowers,
and how should you greet
this offering?
nameless and naked
in the night,
a woman who might
just as likely
walk through the wood
with her hand resting
on a bear's back,
ambling in wordless peace
together
dressed in thin linen,
veiled in lace,
a woman who might
touch a face with
infinite tenderness,
and then pour the tea
stark in black wool,
hands full of mugwort
and artemisia
and regret,
a knife-edge smile,
unshed tears,
with a fox at her hem
and a crow faring before her
how well do you know her,
this woman
who is many women,
as they all are,
who comes to you now,
arrayed in flowers?
what precious, gentle thing
can you offer
in return?
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