Art Credit: Mila Plaickner, “Garden Party”

The moon rises

above an arched gate.

he reads poems

in front of stiff-tall bamboo

near the unfinished garden shed.

we sit in dining chairs

aligned with the patio bricks.

open-mouth-smiles perfume the air

with beer and burgundy.

squirrels rush the branches—

applaud too soon.

A vine past its bloom

crawls on a trellis,

the root appears dead

yet the live ends

are laden with leaf.

-by Shannon P. Laws