The ravine is littered with fallen branches
From elm trees refusing to become corpses,
With the crumpled bark of sycamore
And the decaying cedar that crackles
Like popcorn when you put it into the fire.
Beat your chest, lover, and summon the gods
Who made you to gloat upon your power,
Your camouflaged care, your with-one-paper
Kindling responding to the placement
By intentional hands, bringing me beauty.
In the unseasonable winter day, no fire
Is needed for warmth. We have opened the windows
So it can bloom into its fullness, like you
And I, in the fifth decade of our lives, are changed
By each other, by time, by whatever remains.
–for Ken
–Shaun Perkins
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 
Thank you sweetness.
Reblogged this on Indians in Pakistan – An Exciting Novel and commented:
Neat one.
Very nice: “And the decaying cedar that crackles / Like popcorn when you put it into the fire.”
Thank you. I have to say it scared me when it was happening!
Well, that fear made the poem what it is. Nice post.