“Riddle” by Jane Beal

The trouble is the riddle, strange as it can be—
luminescent, as it were, with tender mystery:

the young sweetheart who sends her love the cherry
without any stone–then the pretty dove, without any bone—

finally the briar, without any branch, and the plea to love her
without any longing, despite all mischance!

How can it be? How can it be?
A cherry without stone, a dove without bone—

a briar without branch, a love without mischance? Ah!
When the cherry was in flower, why, then it had no stone!

And when the dove was an egg, then it had no bone.
And when the briar was seed, then it had no branch

and when the maiden has the one she loves,
then there’s no more longing, and she’s fulfilled in the dance.

Jane Beal
Sunflower Songs (2012)