True Love's Blood

Robin bellies,

copper and round,

bring spring back around

here, in Northern Appalachia.

🫒

The neighborhood groundhog

has found himself a lover.

However,

she likes to kick his ass a lot.

🪻

I always wonder, what he did

to get chased out of their home

under the log

in hills of Japanese knotweed.

🌾

The neighbors, a deer family,

also watch them fight in the yard

of the abandoned house behind where we all sleep.

We watch as if the lovers quarrel is for our own

entertainment.

🌻

Even though,

they draw blood.

Blood of lust,

territory,

and domination.

🌵

The kind of blood that can only be drawn

by true love.