Can you feel the liveliness of words as they form in your head and slip off your tongue
Each syllable pulsating, merging and finding its rhythm

Alive ...

Taking root, nourishing the mind with the palatable, digestible and the succulent
Riding the winds to the four corners and back

Gathering and giving
Gathering and taking

Alive ...

Igniting notions and philosophies, fancies and yearnings
Drenching, pulling you under and steeping you in your own thoughts

Alive ...

Their disapproving stares could not tame
Nor their prayers quench the fire in her veins

This tempestuous primal bloom with skin that smelled of lavender and tasted like the sea
Had a thorny sting as sharp as the arrogant wasp

"The loss! The loss!" they warned as they tugged and pulled on the hem of her skirt
But she kept walking, staying one step ahead of the fullness of their grasp and her own wind blown shadow

They responded,  "Go then! You are in God's hands now!"
Their words stopped her and she turned to face them, "Indeed and I go gladly. Perhaps you'd care to join me?"

There is beauty to be found when we take time to sift through the ruins

But it takes courage to handle broken shards of what once was

And it takes willingness to feel the pain

Shed the tears

Howl at the moon

No precious stones or metals here

Just clay, breath, blood and bone

We must become our own alchemists

Heat our own precious life

With the fires of passion and desire for our own sake

For what good are we to the world

If we are no good to ourselves

Harvesting the past
Examining every chunk
Swallowing mudstone after mudstone
That compete to be the first
To weigh down a hungry belly
But they hold no threat
For a belly on fire
1300 degrees fahrenheit
And RISING

I have closed my eyes
And gulped LIFE down whole
Heads, tails
And all the innards
So you are in my wilderness now
~ Juicy red cell upon cell ~
All containing history, geography, chemistry, language
And story

But we are all more than our stories
Aren't we
So much more
This is just the beginning

Come.

At dawn’s rising
Soul stirs  
It travels the expanse of body
Lighting fires
Whispering delicious words to inspire  
Making  flames leap higher
So high and hot
As breath leaves lungs and lips
The smoke of breath
Hits the air

Silky and alive

Awakened limbs undulating
Find freedom from cover
Feet hit the floor
Body rises
Hips sway with purpose
And with every stride
You heat the air
And claim it with your scent
You own this space

Alive by God!

Alive!