Wind in Maple Branches

The moonlight
and the soft and steady
wind in maple branches
are a testimony to the sweet water
brought gently from the roots,

against gravity,
common sense,
and all the exotic forces
of the spacious sky;

the aromatic night
extracts beams of flavor
from the wormwood energy
that is more harsh, bitter

than a broken promise
and digs deeply
into the loam
rich with knowing
what will never

come close
to confection
at the tip
of so many betrayals.