Billet-Doux

I'm not yet sweet enough 

for you. Please stay. 

There is more beneath 

this daily regimen: six hours of full on

sunlight. I can learn from the bougainvilleas  

that thrive in extreme heat as I do.

That drop papery frosted pink bracts

along the walkway someone may

sweep away, lifting the everyday eyes

to the bright, thorny vine, sturdy

in this private clime.

Consider this a gentle page 

a billet-doux expressly for

you.