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…
Comments