Moments - Gina Puorro

[Lawrence Robinson]

Moments

Come and lay your body
down on the earth
she’s got a poem
for your grieving heart
and open palms.
Release your back
into her soft folds
open up your chest
and pour yourself
all the way
out.

Let the gods sing secrets to you
through the throat
of the red-winged black bird
listen closely
as they shiver up your neck
calling you back home.
Drop deep into your belly
relax your jaw
and surrender your gravity
to the wind.

Slither down low
even lower than that
undulating ribs and scales
until your spine unravels
back into dirt and dust.
Become the ground
that grinds us
bone and stardust
into everything and nothing
all at once.

Eat the silence that’s left
once everything else is gone
chase it down with the hum
of what is being born
and suck on the grace and honey
it leaves underneath your tongue.
Let loose the song that begins
to pour from your mouth
gushing with nectar
gushing with saltwater
because even in the dry season
water always finds a way
to spill.

Everything and everyone you love
is going to die soon
and so will you
so let’s throw another log
on the funeral pyre
weep and wail
dance and sing
cackle and yawp
and toast to the good fortune
that we’ve all had this moment
here
together
now
even though
this moment
is already gone.

	- Gina Puorro