By Sherin Shefik
Hi there
My name is
Birch
Silver Birch.
But my friends call me
Lady of the Woods.
You can call me that too
If you want.
Hair colour: silvery white;
Eye colour: light green with a touch of yellow;
Best feature: long, thin, glossy legs;
Vibe: fun-loving.
I’m not looking for permanence
I’m looking to play.
Wherever I am,
Wherever I go,
I won’t be staying long.
I root near the surface
As I’m just preparing the way for
Other more permanent beasts.
I live fast
Love fast
Dye fast.
I whisper
‘This Too Shall Pass’
As my slender stalks dance seductively
In the shimmering moonlight.
My foilage and branches dance to any beat
Even the gentlest of breezes
So I can spread my pioneering seeds far and wide.
I designed my baby winged nutlets
Myself
I wanted them to be light and airy and
To fly great distances
So I can colonise any soil I like.
I do what I want
You see
When I want.
I party hard
To that song I like
With my friend the Fly Agaric
Who – be warned – is naughty
And magic
And wild.
But when the music changes
I finish my sweet fizzy wine
And I pull that dainty silver zip down
Over my fertile womanly hips.
Dropping that
Paper-thin pearl-coloured dress
to the wet soil.
And I’ll slither into something new.
Tonight
I’ll go for
Golden-yellow diamond-shaped sequences
I think
But I’ll wait for the sun to shy.
Tomorrow I’ll shed my skin again
And decorate my delicate twigs
And feminine branches
With a light green Ace of Spades pattern
With pointed teeth tassels
Tinged with pink on the underside.
I’ll dance differently next week
When my old skin starts to peel
When I start afresh and purified once again.
So. Come. Come now.
Hold my hand.
Let’s follow the sound of the drums
For the moon is full
And the night is young…
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