You read the letter soaked in Seine rain
Pelargonium leaves catch every drop
Zinc roof shines wet below your boots
Root systems drink the grey perfume
Paris rooftops wear moss crowns tonight
Chimney pots sprout fern and lichen
You trace the lines with soil-stained thumbs
Words grow like rhizomes in darkness
Hydrangea macrophylla bends low
Blue mopheads heavy with heaven's weight
The letter speaks of April planting
Seeds sent from a Loire valley gate
Paris rooftops wear moss crowns tonight
Chimney pots sprout fern and lichen
You trace the lines with soil-stained thumbs
Words grow like rhizomes in darkness
Taxus baccata guards the corner
Needles dark against limestone white
You tuck the page in coat pocket
Close to where your heartbeat roots
Paris rooftops wear moss crowns tonight
Chimney pots sprout fern and lichen
You trace the lines with soil-stained thumbs
Words grow like rhizomes in darkness
Clay pot cracks from winter freezing
New shoots push through hairline fractures
Love letters compost into nutrients
Green fists split the surface open
Dawn paints the terrace rose and gold
Sedum acre wakes in crevices
You water each pot with rainwater
Whisper Latin names to waking leaves
Paris rooftops wear moss crowns tonight
Chimney pots sprout fern and lichen
You trace the lines with soil-stained thumbs
Words grow like rhizomes in darkness
Paris rooftops wear moss crowns tonight
Chimney pots sprout fern and lichen
You trace the lines with soil-stained thumbs
Words grow like rhizomes in darkness
Geraniums hold the morning light
Roots remember every hand that tended