The August heat came with love and chance

A melodic butterfly gasoir dance

And stolen kisses underneath the old tree

The sapling brought from Italy

The one which grew up with me

Ah, that strange, crooked tree

My mother loved to tell this story

How it could live for thousands of years

But would only ever bear fruit once

What a gift it would be, in this lifetime

How wonderful, if the universe, aligned 

In chance, in beauty, in laughter

And like a bumblebee to lavender

That summer the fruit came

And so did you to me

Your mouth on my mouth

Under the Italian tree 

Orange fruit, sweet, 

and we

Two love birds perched underneath. 

---

Tina Rose is an English & Drama Graduate from Royal Holloway, University of London and a  Masters graduate in English Literary Studies from Durham University.  She is a Creative Writing teacher in a…