Kelli Schmidt-Bultena

Swaddle me in crumbs
of delicious darkened soil
fit me into crevices of caverns
cover my bones in argillaceous earth
let the loam be my womb

I’ll feel the heartbeat of the
core and the tremors of the
magma a million miles away
while tucked safely in the ground
I belong here inside

This beautiful dust and grime
softened by the tears of rivers,
seas and time
all connected, becoming more
of who I always knew to be

The clay a well-formed part of me
my home is here, in these particles of rock
blended and brewed with the decomposed
roots and leaves and living things now departed
never has my spirit felt more alive