they say that death
might come
like a thief in the night,
but love knows those paths
through the deep mystery too,
asking nothing of us
but all we are to give,
and waking one morning
early summer light
to find my belly stretched taut
marked welt-red and wild
like the skin of a shadow-play beast
rippling with life,
i knew this love would be fierce –
that i could be swallowed,
torn sinew and bone
from what i thought i was
the animal snuffle-yelp of the newborn
would devour and devour completely
until nothing remained
but that which was always becoming
and years later
i would come up for breath,
those marks now long faded
to lightning-strike silver scars,
the girls grown like saplings
reaching for the light
and winter would find me
sitting forest floor,
hands deep buried
against breath bite cold,
heart gulping radiance
that spills through tall trees
until i come undone
unhinged
skinless in the morning,
becoming this place
we always were
always loved.
For Sherry at Earthweal’s weekly challenge – Fierce Love.
https://earthweal.com/2021/05/10/earthweal-weekly-challenge-fierce-love/
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