I hear her calling to me now —

Breezing through the tree line and

wriggling through the dirt

She speaks in the morse code of

the sun’s flickering rays

One blink, two blinks to say her name

Ultimately, as I am left alone, I’ll have her —

Her limbs making shadow puppets on the

bird egg blue sky; her body disappearing

behind the clouds — breathing sweet whispers

by the blades of grass at my soles

I run to her spirited embrace

When my hands melt into the mud my

pulse point ignites, the invigorating scent

of all that this world needs to be

reaching up into my body and my mind

And I am one with her — my shoulders

grounded on shell scattered beaches,

my hands pricked with blackberry bush stings,

eyes burning as my gaze travels her iridescent expanse

She calls to me and I answer in deep breaths,

my voice gone but my being soothed

Milkweed is my bandage and pine needles sew my clothes,

I cry alongside the weeping willow and throw myself

into this world like the hedgeapples from the trees

My mind ripples the creek like the palm-shaped stones on the bank,

and the sun flavors my forearms with freckles and found peace

I descend once more into her faux mother’s embrace

And when I grow into my unknown alone

I will not have her — she will have me

As I return to live as the creatures of this Earth

My person unbeknownst to anyone but the breeze