I spent my 20th birthday in a petrified forest
It meant nothing and I sweat very much

I wonder how it feels to be petrified, how it feels for
Nature to memorialize you,

Laid to rest until coal-covered hands unearth you
Gingko and sassafras and yew feel the sun’s aged, dotted hands caress all over

This is how it feels.
A petroglyph carved from ancient basalt

And my dad carrying our dog on his shoulders.
15.5 million years of layered rock and

Worrying about the size of my legs next to yours.
Ice age floods exposed crystalized bark and

You wipe the **** off your shoe and we drive some more.

warm fire smile
I taste your heat
you've always been ablaze
and you've never apologized for setting
fire to the house
               (it needed to burn, anyway)
I feel your release
I feel that it's different now
               DO YOU HEAR ME?
               I SAID IT'S DIFFERENT NOW!
I said I wish I could burn like you
but I am water that never stops spilling
               (can fire spill?)
my water grows an algae film when your fire can get you
wherever you want
demanding and tenderizing and
so ******* wild
I adore you in your blaze
I savor your fiery rage
I lick the plate of ashes that remain

and when it is sunny i will stare right at it and hope to god it never leaves my very bloodstream

i have injected you.