Strawberry Stains

spring is coming

with a strawberry in the mouth

whipped cream skin and sparkling sugar eyes

plump lips overflowing red, stained with a passion

too fervent for a fragile flower

pinprick blood-point juice drop tongue

too sharp to be sweet as the nectar bees crave

cutting-edge teeth tearing through soft flesh

bites that ooze sticky red

too romantic to be understood by most

the true beauty of nature is so often overlooked

purposefully misunderstood

for being too feral

too loud

too untamed

for its own good

strawberry stains

will paint linens and skin all year

mementos of a consuming spring drenched in

rebirth

revival

rejoicing

and the marks all emerging things leave

on the malleable fabric

of an ever-changing world