brotherliness - a found poem

as an Eastertide greeting by Shirley Marais (Higgins)

​
the leaves         pinnate
odd       or even
no        alternate
compound         certainly
alternate and pinnately compound
and serrated                 toothed
feather-formed some say
            the fanciful
 
the leaflets
arranged alternately
around the petiole
the stalk that joins the leaflets
            to the stem
 
                        and the in-breath
                        where the leaves end
                        before the sepals begin
                        and the sepals themselves
                                    those five brothers
                        who hold the consummate red
 
roses are shrubs          
climbing           or trailing
the stems of which are usually armed    
copiously          with prickles     
commonly known as thorns
 
            oh never mind
            and never mind the thorns
 
                        it’s the fragrance
                        saturation of light
                        and form and colour
                        that aches the heart
                        give me the aching colour
                        the star-shaped scent
                        that speaks in the deep heart
                        my brother
 
                        give me the starry fragrance
                        that aches on the in-breath
                        and awakens my heart’s deep sun
                        so for a moment I can feel
                                    I am a brother
                                    of the heavens
                                    and of the earth