part 1: sea level rise
There are pieces of my Heart
scattered around the world,
wandering coastlines and
trying to find their way home.

Rather than building a seawall,
I opened the floodgates.
I watched my levees Surrender
to a foaming, frothing Force.

Come, little refugees, little shards
of remnant Loves,
return to the chest in which
I kept you for so long as bait:
swimming in circles,
breathless and blind.

Make me Whole again, for yes,
I am broken.
Yes, I am drowning
and I need You.
I am calling back all my heart parts now.

part 2: desertification
“You’re not broken,” is a lie.
Explain why my limbs don’t work, then.
Explain these sutured scars
and why I can’t sleep
or eat or sex like an
unbroken animal would.

These cracks aren’t painted gold,
but if you peer in you’ll see
flowing lava.
Stare into my core if you want to
join my nightmares of war.

If you’ve never been violated,
you can’t understand.
I’m not pottery,
you’re no kiln.
This parched, scorched self
isn’t art.