The Juniper Tree by Joseph Stanton

after a tale by the Brothers Grimm

She so desired a child
the world had to yield it up.
When she bled, by accident,
while cutting an apple
under the juniper tree,
the heart of things opened,
rising through the roots of the tree
and reaching everywhere,

her love sprouting in all the leaves
of every tree, a forest
where all the branches intertwined,
growing together, tangled
and dense with birds singing
and blossoms falling,
as gentle as the clouds of joy
drifting inside her mind.

She devoured
bright, scarlet juniper berries
until her swelling reached
its ripening and her body spoke
its perfect little boy,
as red as blood and white as snow,
and she was so very very happy,
strange to say,

that she could only die,
dreaming herself a tree
of never forgetting,
dreaming her beloved boy a song,
beyond most kinds of dying,
singing the gold’s shine,
the red shoe’s dancing,
the stone’s grind never ending.

About the Author:
Joseph Stanton has published poetry in a wide variety of journals and anthologies...read more.

Copyright © 2007 by Joseph Stanton. The poem may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission.