The first gift is a fruit picked from the field,
its heart kept safe by a hundred guards.
The first gift is a stone polished clean
in river water, fit for the hollow of a palm.
The first gift is a spangle of frost announcing
winter has arrived, or has never left.
What is the length of time such a gift
can last or be kept?
The first gift widens the gate and feeds
the animal at the threshold.
After receiving the first gift, the tumult of others
can pelt you as hard or as tender as rain.
Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.
