Herbs of the Slopes

by Andrew Schelling

Can you name the flowers
& burgundy colored grasses of
autumn?

This is for those
who perform love as the poets sing it
one image
that wears through the page
is the world.

Remember
the stroke of midnight hair

heart against heart the draw
of pubic desire
darkening lavender in the
hollows of spirit

Why did the old–time poets
rage their grammatical

hearts out?

be kind to her, to all creatures
on the bare
shelf of life

Hurt comes, do not increase it.

Icy fog
coats every herb of the slope.