Napowrimo 13

Today's assignment was to write something that included a kenning, a kind of Norse metaphor. The kenning I decided to modify was "destroyer of brambles" which means, well, wind.

What Dolly Did to my Palm

She was a lover of the loose,
could make a skirt fall
to the ground with just a whisper.

It began as just a gentle sway,
like two awkward teens
a slow dance at prom,
unsure of who should lead
and who should follow.
It wasn't until the wind
kicked up, a fast-paced cumbia,
a finger ran through loose
and tangled hair, a gasp
of gusts, a whistling of wind,
an arm around the waist
that she let go.

I couldn't watch for fear
that I would too become
a willing victim to the wind,
take flight and sing the song
of hurricanes. In the few calm
moments as the eye passed over
I peered out my window,
saw the discarded skirts
along the garden's bed,

and there my palm tree stood,
naked, breathless, ready
for another dance with Dolly.