Bittersweet and Brambles

Bittersweet and brambles:

scrambled, tangled -

preferable to pass by

this hedge mess

to look for something

more beautiful

but

look . . .



how the bittersweet

smooth and sinuous

gently coils

round the brambles

and rests between

their shard sharp

thorns



so stands through winter snows

avoids the trampling feet

of hungry deer

preferring to pass by

tangled and scrambled

bittersweet and brambles.