Resurrection (poem)

petals drop, prune my leaves as some are
wilting,
some are dead
strip me here of all my yesterdays
remind me what's inside
I can't smell tomorrow
or is that the sound of decay
cloying like the petals I dreamed of
last night and tomorrow
peel, peel,
stab me with your adrenaline tongue
spark my language-making heart
revive my core to spark these wings to fly
or buds to bloom
or seed to burst
remind me who's still inside
out there tastes so much better than
the view from in here

if I'm under six feet
or over my prime,
still,
I'll learn to fly for you
I'll spread my bloom,
I'll raise my wings
I'll dive from this bed of thorns and death
to the sky I hear when I think of you

strip me bare
I want to breathe
as flower, moth, drawn to your flaming eyes
willing to burn for you
wanting to scald, scream,
smiling, cheeks hurting, arms throbbing from stretching to
grasp today
pluck my stem from the cocoon of dead petals
writhing 'round my frozen limbs
or were those wings?

strip me down
to what I think I knew
the taste of roses, the sound of butterfly flutters
in my stomach and the womb of what I'd
give to you
to remember how
to feel