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.