june, you, monthlong solstice

your 30 days of day

of Light’s false dominion /

he suggests a good way to estimate
the number of roses on my climbing rose bush
is to count the number of buds and blossoms on one linear foot of branch

so, I do.

there are 60 or more

i probably missed some

then 6,000? or more?! on this eight year old gem

how many june bouquets, boutonnières and corsages they would a florist supply

instead,
i keep them all for future rose hips,

and refuse to prune
unless a branch cracks under

the weight of drenched petals in this year’s wild june rainstorms

so many vases i have filled this june.

i suggest that i may create a perimeter of this variety of rose
an impenetrable devastating fortress of thornage — a natural, beautiful “devil’s rope”

i once saw a group of mule deer clear an 8′ fence in colorado — without a running start, could a herd of robot dogs do that?

he sees i’ve saved old nails, screws and Mexican coke and beer bottle caps in an empty 3lb coffee tin