Do Moths Ever Wonder How Many Versions Of Themselves Live In The Shadows Of Their Wings?

An ember in my hand Is a small and safe delight It burns of course Palm scarred for life Leave your imprint on me, fire

But place it in the earth And it will tear its way through Scorch the ground and then The trees until there's nothing Left but a smoldering oblivion

As a lover of fire As someone made of flames For this destruction I have only this tearful apology Lost in the blackest smoke

You say goodnight to me As though singing a song Against my earlobe Whispering a melodic prayer Beating against my eardrum The rhythm of your words A steady lullaby kiss Melting on my lips as you Fade with me into a dream

I slip into my skin Like slipping into A favorite sweater I am the nurturer Inside my own body A home and hearth Tranquil and secure My body is a warmth I am warm here I am so very warm

Kingdoms that we built Inside our neighboring, Rolling, hillside towns Still stand strong and Towering, but only in my Enchanted daydreams, the Night fell fast in yours

Without reading any of my written words Is it possible to truly know me? Mind musings, soul serenades This feels like the only accurate, undiluted Version of my being

If you've never met my body Maybe you know me better than most Or maybe to know me is reading both Poetry being the translation of my body language Into my mother tongue

So I'll lay my words down delicately, intentionally Hoping you see them A dialect spoken just between us Yes, you would know me I think you could know me entirely this way

River, you ran through me I, the earth, the soil Quiet and soft

So were you, you brought Your herons and their Nests, you brought your Guiding bends, The frogs that peeped Like a lullaby into dark sky

I made room for you In places I had been dry And steep, I let you in, You helped me heal, you made Waterfalls, or rather,

We made the waterfalls, And you made it safe for water To splash down, unharmed

River, when you touch sand You will meet the sea You will go where I cannot But you brought life to me,

Where there were rough cracks There are now reeds and moss And dragonflies

Leave me like a brook, Clearly, slowly, on rocks Glittering under the sun, I, the earth, am changed, Come twilight I will hear you River, flowing into the ocean

But there's a spring now, Fresh water will come And you have helped me trust it

Ocean, I have a confession to make. I am just a small bird, a very small bird, You are endless and vast, How can I tell you I love you?

I have fallen in love with you deeply, As deep as your floors, your trenches; But you are so grand and I, Well I am just a bird, would you wave me off?

I have this fragile, mortal body And I am jealous of your infinite waters. How could you ever love me back When I exist for just one of your moments?

I am standing, twig legged, at your shore, I am watching the clouds kiss your horizon And I have never felt smaller, yet I am drowning in my adoration of you.

Since we are being vulnerable, And my feelings are likely unrequited, May I ask, Ocean, who is it you love? For whom does your body ebb and flow?

You are candlelight My yellow rose Every song I'll ever compose We are elegance And flowing words The freedom between Mated birds We've been thunder Pouring rain The healing after Endless pain I'm a soft brush With eternity Always painting You and me

Pull me along On those strings you Claim belong to a Heart Carelessly you Dragged me down You tore my Spirit apart

If I were as cruel As you make me feel I would help you Break Sticks and stones Crushing your bones You made a Grave mistake

The church bell chimes Eleven and I count One, two, three, and on And then after the last The soft cooing of an owl Plays above the forest Echoing across the sky As if to outplay the bell To claim this simple land For itself as it sings Every one of us to sleep