Alchemy

When I came to you

I was one way

and now I leave

someone else.

I thought I knew

exactly who I was.

How wrong.

How naive to think

that in your hands

earth would not burn.

Love alchemizes us all-

this is the gift of it.

And when the fire clears

and smoke makes room for sky.

When my lungs can again remember

what they were

made for.

And my chest can finally

take back

the muscle of

my own heart.

Then

I will climb

the tallest mountain

and tell every bird

the story of us

so that they may

thread their nests

with sweetness and

with salt.