Early Rising
       

When the earth took away my fires
I sighed in bodies

I mean the sighs had limbs and trunks
and as with bodies

some were living
some not
some almost
or almost headless

like the ember I thought was over
before it blew up into a planet

mostly water and everything connected was a kinder island

it did not betray the aims of water

it did not bury what my hands have buried
or nurture
what your hands have warmed
then scorched

before I took
away my earth

my earths were buried
and I rubbed apart their pieces
for your fire

put me out
put me where I don't forgive by heart

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Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Metzger All rights reserved
from Bed
Tupelo Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission