The leaf is the paradigmatic form of openness: life capable of being traversed by the world without being destroyed by it (The Life of Plants. A Metaphysics of Mixture. Emanuele Coccia.)
I was imagining green
light like two rivers,
one from each shoulder blade,
diagonal streams
that met then crossed
at the solar plexus
continuing through my
thighs and calves – ribbons
of billowing crosscurrents
fallen towards one lake
and there the relief
of twin divergent sorrows
and I thought of a leaf,
that whilst love moves within
me I move within it and
I could hardly stand
or hear my name being called,
staggering back to the car.
(This poem appeared in Ink, Sweat & Tears)