Melding

I have discovered within myself all the wisdom of the ages, imprinted on the skin of my palms,

in the pattern of taste buds on my tongue, in the scars crisscrossing my knees.

I can feel as I lace my fingers and twist my tongue and kneel down almost in prayer

how my muscles meet with bone, letting my body bend effortlessly

like a liquid flowing freely, encompassing and filling its container, conquering.

 

I am solid like mountains and ancient oaks and the rocks pressing into my feet

bare and open, they are meant to hold my weight upon the earth and greet the dirt.

I let the ground indent itself in my flesh, feeling the edges carve truth,

the truth that every joint and tendon and bone connects;

every sinew and fiber and vein meet and weave and stitch together.

 

I am put together like nature, beautiful and efficient, functioning like mathematical formulas,

the equations of my veins answering the question in every beat of my heart.

My blood is as perfect as numbers, square roots and trees,

art and science, a sculpture of cells and tissue, definite as an equal sign, flexible as clay.

My body is like the earth, delicate and balanced and broad, hiding strength beneath my skin,

my heart hot and burning like the molten core, shifting and renewing with every breath.

 

I am lying here in the dirt, every inch of my back and calves and thighs,

arms and palms and shoulder blades pushing into the ground like a lover.

My feet pointed, toes straining to reach the earth, to touch it as my fingers do,

grasping, clawing, feeling the soil penetrate my nails, driving deep into the nail bed

as if it could reach my bloodstream and flow through my heart.

 

Crack me open, break my chest in half, split my ribcage apart like iron gates,

When you reach my center, when you find my fiery marrow

I will destroy you, melt you into me and we will mix and change each other

so that even when we divide, separate again, a part of you will remain in me

and I in you, a reminder, a penance, a gift.

Author's Note

I have been told that it starts off too slow. Opinions?

Reviews

[H]

It does not start off too slow.