BRANCHES

Photograph by AudreyLynne Waldbaum Castiglione

BRANCHES

By Michelle Longo-Bloom

Its branches spread out
like that of the clothes broadened on her bed.
“Her,” trepid femella; femmina;
embarking on the lively waters of her adolescent years.
Each article of clothing signifying something so diverse,
each piece denoting experiences, so sundry:
some old and frail; a torn and tattered blouse,
some new and fresh; her latest silk slacks.
Like that of her clothes…
each branch conveys occurrences, varied,
with lines gnarled deep; embedded with in,
lines which speak,
of the lips, cheeks and foreheads they’ve been.
Each one with streaks
of smirks and frowns they’ve been around,
laughing faces; mouths they once did surround.
With age each branch becomes feeble; fragile,
now comes a new face, the face of a child,
and all of the lines,
they leave; disappear,
and laughter, giddiness, more smiles appear;
innocence for new lines to bind.
As her clothes were worn and then replaced…
so were the branches.
Now, unsullied kindling with new features to be encased;
new facades and grimaces to be encircled.
The branches, they lived lives of their own,
lives of all things, wise and fully grown.
As did she live a life of her own,
“Her,” trepid femella; femmina;
now wise and grown.
Like that of the branches…
with streaks around grins,
with lines around chins,
wisdom and gaiety,
and all that beamed,
in spite of all storms and strife, it seemed.

Photograph by AudreyLynne Waldbaum Castiglione