Seventh Start

According to the hour

today was expected to be 

our seventh start. 

Of course love’s sickness endured 

no matter how lightly we tried

our footprints were imprinted 

deep and heavy in the mud. 

I suspect, that neither of us

ever wanted to be left alone

so here we are counting. 

I pull the flower and stem

and like an expert

I prepare the blossom. 

Thank goodness,

this particular flower of mine

has more than a million petals. 

I’ll continue 

with my counting song,

I pull a petal
“She loves me.”

I pull a petal
“She loves me not.”

I’ll continue on like this

for centuries,

perhaps, this is the flower

we won’t need to

start over again.