walking with giants

i followed the prescription written by 
common sense.

to return from the gates of death, stay
outside. 
in the horizon’s vast embrace,
breathe.

the belly of the heavens kisses my head,
tucks me under her feathers
and imperceptibly
shoots descend,
delicate trails of belonging
trickle into the soil and starlight,
claim a place on this earth. 

slowly the touch of the sun
smuggles some warmth into my bloodstream
seaspray and frogsong eat into the veil,
shells crunch under my feet as i
participate,
making sand,
making tracks.

the rhythm of sunsets starts to drum itself into my chest,
and the tears! 
a waterfall for every obstacle, 
sprinkling the thirsty ground with
mourning. 

i sat unshielded,
every ounce of courage
crumbled and rotted

empty of plan or purpose,
filled only, intermittently, with breath.

liveliness catches into my hair like pollen dust,
accumulates as living things do.

i followed the longing to be drenched in the elements,
to fill my nostrils with their presence,

in my tongue my skin my empty insides,
to be porous,
rocked,
seeded by the fragrance of
bright pink sunsets and silver water
the piercing war cries of seagulls, buffeting wings
over bare fishbones,

the scent of our juices
like a poem lingering in the air,
humming
in a pregnant, twinkling absence.

somehow, the road to returning
is about 
mingling with the immense,

walking with giants.

because
the red whale moon soars
and ignites me
like nothing else did.

#fullmoon #bloodmoon #moonmagic #roadtoreturning #landmedicine #landasmedicine #walkingwithgiants