circle

i am a fluttery thing

so many heartbeats allowed to build from so many names

as i grow, the world nods

takes hold of my lessons and spurs the stars forward

i am a young star

a white dwarf

barely standing

hardly aware of my own name

as the leaves hold my fingertips steady, i walk

who do i see under this canopy of heady scents

lights dancing, teasing with their weightless eyes

they look to the way

i'd see what they see, but i'm still stuck to this earth

lift up a foot

brown swirls between the lines

is this why i can't join you - because the feet, they've grown into the ground

another step

leaves are blowing higher now

i can't reach them

why haven't they lifted me to their branches?

the ground is cool

i can feel from my toes

now my hands, they feel it too

so cool, so soothing

i brush my hair from my cheek so every throbbing cell can touch it

there are leaves here too

i didn't recognize them before on my feet

eyelids shut

i can see better inside what these leaves are doing 

they've found the crisscrosses on my soles

a hidden passage, cracked and seeping

little brown leaves in my legs

my arms

my neck

my heart

i can see them, they're braiding a rope

to tighten around my heart, to drag it above

the air is harder to taste now

it has colour now, not clear, like before

dark

like when the lights dance too high up in the sky

the wind,

i feel it covering me with a blanket

it thinks i'm sleeping

my eyes are just closed so i can see better

not tired

the rope is yanked

i breathe in deeply the taste of brown

this time, it is done

the heart is gone

there is nothing to breathe back out

all has flown

quiet
then a rustle

my eyes open

the leaves are green