firelight

firelight 

chill air

i am one with the starlight

i glow in their midst, radiating glory

(as they do)

the surface of me peels away

my earthy desire for comfort

warmth, gravitating inevitably 

towards the golden sister to the sky

that parallel, opposite

so close and gratifying

tangible, yet enigmatic and elusive

as her siblings the stars

moss grows into me 

i become supple, pithy, surreptitious

my hair, teeth, nails disintegrate 

forming into flowering vines or

maple saplings, lichens envelop

my becoming a faceless nothing

gives immeasurable new life

birth, again

gift of anonymity

the whisper of forgotten losses

owed or promised or dismissed

lilting against reedy rustling

the trees protect the past. 

all that remains to be given 

is the future to oneself,

the most difficult and dangerous

person to approach with a 

proposal

because you are the least worried about inflicting

self-doubt