the shade of love

every time
the moon slips into
the newness of her dark tent,
this chalice empties its blood
into the gut of the earth
and all that she holds,
the shade of love
hidden in a rose
handed over in silence,
from heart to heart,
blooming and withering
over and over,
unfolding her tiny petals
to grow and die
to the breath
of the turning cosmos
we all seek,
me in you,
and you in me.