Our Lady of Change

i.

It burned so cruel and so quick, taking

everything I'd built, no chance to save

anything but this precious, pitiful breath,

routine ruined, old dreams all laid to ash.

So then, how did it burn? Mercifully swift.

ii.

I surrendered myself to the current

with a desperate desire to change--

self, scenery, anything to be rid of this restlessness--

but the water slowed until it could no longer carry me,

and I surrendered myself to the stillness,

with the stream gently rubbing at my back.

iii.

She smells like a house fire.

Her skin is smooth as a river stone.

5/30/2018