pom

Jake took me to the nettle patch today.
My coat hold only one button, the one at the top
My coat flapped open
like cape
as we rode our bikes along the river
as fast as we could

I can't tell you where the nettle is
I can tell you where the wolf berries are
in the alley near my house
There should be enough again
this summer
for you and me
if the bees are busy
and the neighbors don't prune them away

But the nettle is for Jake to share.

Riding,
I tell Jake I figured something out
Gazing at Rinnah last night
I got shy and looked away
and remembered
when it was
that when you kiss someone
you stop looking away
you feel like you're inside that person
and they are inside of you
The pact.

Jake tells me I have women medicine
and that I use my powers to help others

He says the nettle is male and female and mate every year
He says the root of the nettle feels masculine
He says the warriors would consume the nettle to strengthen their blood

We look around the brush.
There is a styrofoam container
some crushed Olympia cans
a bottle of Old German
which I put in my backpack

Jake finds the nettle
and we clear away a place in the thicket
to crouch down.
The nettle is going crazy in the valley
Not here
So much.

The tulips are blooming in the valley
The daffodils in my yard would bloom
on the week of my birthday
First week of March

I tell him every year I wish the winter
to be so treacherous
and miserable
I hope everything breaks and I cry everyday
Because when the summer comes it feels like ecstasy

It is why I bear the loneliness
And hold onto it sometimes

Jake says, when you touch the nettle it stings
and leaves welts
He says the Chinese use nettle in medicine
They lash the backs of elders with arthritis
and it relieves their joints

We touch the nettle to acupuncture points on our wrists
Within seconds the skin flares up
and stings

Maybe it's to make us stronger
Maybe it's to remind ourselves that pain is healing.

He picks a nettle for himself
He is going to use it in the sushi tonight for the family
He picks a nettle for me
He says I can make it into a tea