If a Tree Falls in the Forest by Jennifer Bigelow

Like heliotropes, the couple
Grows towards each other’s heat,
Roots of fingers intertwining,
Their lips brushing like dewy leaves.

The parents struggle to prune,
Cutting –
Snipping –
Stunting –
like Bonsai artists.

The garden thrives, despite the shears,
The brambles overgrown,
A hedge of thorns encasing secrets –

Exposed when
a little ripped wrapper slips
from underneath the pillow
floating down
like a dried oak leaf;
A shockwave of silence
From the crash of timber.