Butterfly Net

The beach watches my feet,
And the horizon line
Curls its way around my heart;
Pulling the edges together to
Fold away, ensnare,
Because the stones at my ankles are sharp
And my blood is fragile,
Too exultant to loose.

For my present forever, I could dissolve
Into salt; to rake the air and sting the eyes and
Bring back around those pale blue childhood memories.
I could break, pound the ground to heaven, hell…
Or simply sleep on my hands;
Holding my heart like the sand, palmed in skin.

I will root myself here;
Anchored with hooked fingernails for this lifetime;
Commanding the tide with my head to the ground
Until the sunrise falls away and
The seagulls calm their open throats.

For here to never, I can join with my soul in
Pilgrimage,
Until eternity ends, and the waves fall in and
Break against my cold wrists;
Freeze my blood
To stone.