Da steht ein Lindenbaum

[billy]

high eileen. while the extended metaphor works, i'd like to see a little more of why the last stanza exists. something that lessens the ambiguity just a little.

thanks for the read.

Da steht ein Lindenbaum

A rough sort of love for life;
a love which shivers and shakes off  no problem with the 2nd love, which is unusual for me.
blankets, patchwork quilts of leaves.

The love of twigs, snapping
underfoot, between finger and thumb;  there's a conflict in the punctuation for me with this line. it reads as though finger and thumb were under foot. i'd suggest a semi colon or  punctuation that separates the two
bark on soft palms and rivulets of sap.

I have been digging; densely packing
earth beneath nails. Cementing up
gaps of self, building my limbs anew. so the tree is the poem, and the 1st person is the tree (metaphorically)

Lips cracked; caked, clayed, and cloyed. not heard "clayed" but nice alliteration.
Hands clasped at the root: a prayer,
half-sung, murmured. Held for just a breath.