Ashes

I caused it all

Chameleon personality

Oozing like molten lava

Ever shifting to fit in

Be accepted.

People-pleasing, judgmentalism, critical heart

Anger, fantasy, dishonesty, lust

Narcissism

Unstable as water

Ashes

I caused it all

A spark, a flame, wind, dry tinder

Devastating inferno

Torrid heat

Gagging smoke

Asphyxiation for the lucky.

Houses, forests, vehicles, animals, people

Incinerated.

Sap boils, trees explode

Cars detonate

Panicked deer bolt

No way out.

We are trapped.

Nothing left

But ashes, smoke, stench, blackness

Smoldering embers

Of what was.

Nothing recognizable.

Cremated

Lifeless

I am ashes

My sin caused it all

Yet somehow conscious

Music in the distance

Coming closer

He walks

Light of foot

Smiling

Joyous

Dark rugged brown face

Long black hair tinged with red

Effervescent white robe

Fluttering in the cool clear breeze

Golden sash

Shepherd’s sandals

Each footstep explodes with radiant love

He walks slowly, deliberately

With each footprint

Radiant colors sweep the landscape

Flowers bloom

Grass springs tender and green

Trees appear to the sides of the new meadow.

Deer, antelope, mountain lions, marmots, moose, elk,

Fox, wolves, dogs and cats

Mountain goats

Mice and insects

Appear out of nowhere

Dance, leap, prance

Without fear

Or harm.

Raptors soar

Birds sing

Wrens, chickadees, juncos, jays, warblers, finches, cardinals, kinglets,

Bluebirds

Announce a new spring

Rivers cascade into cataracts

Plunging, laughing.

 A calm ocean laps the shore.

Whales breech

Dolphins leap.

The air

Suddenly fresh

Pure zephyr

Unsullied Chinook

Color and life everywhere

As far as the eye can see

Bursting, radiating out from him.

I am ashes

Without life

Yet watching in anticipation.

He arrives

At the ruins that are me

(or were once me)

He smiles

He smiles at me.

He smiles lovingly at me

He smiles tenderly at me.

He knows I caused it all

And yet

He smiles at me with love.

He whispers.

I am alive!

I am whole!

I am filled with joy!

I join the regenerative dance of renewed nature.

(Making All Things New,©Lawrence Russell Taylor, November 30, 2018)