For Janet, At The New Year
The way I want to love you, the way
I want to be loved is
with such abundance, with
so much willing profusion –
like those tiny blue flowers that turn a glade into a sky blue lake,
or our stars, brilliance strewn
across the black felt sky like a
child gone wild with glitter and glue.
I want a love that quickens the dead
wood of our hearts, rubbing life into the sticks
with the power of the seasons, revealing
brittleness to be only winter
with buds straining against the bark.
– Ellen Bass
