Pruning chemotherapy

Days before

I walk the yard
looking
for crisp edges
brown spots
yellow wilt

I pick leaves
one at a time
rub them between my thumb
and fingers
see what they can feel,
rough then nothing

I pluck faster
as a goat
finishing the rose bushes
stuck with thorns
to cherry tree branches
my scars stretch

Afterwards,
the sap in me
that makes the leaves curl
weak yellow brown,
from where I lie
the window only shows green