#thawing

The afternoon my ankles thawed
the valley salted itself. The skyline
was a catch of shrimp paddling
to de-tail me back into a human.
From the human came opal  
dandelions, came pollen & petal,
came grain & powder.
I used to want you whole, they said.
The mountains were a story
of aberration. Between the red
rock chasms, spiders dropped
from the lack of air. They lost
limbs. I heard snow fall 
in my dreams. I was a guardian
of lemon & birthstone. I hiked
a trail, collecting rinds.
My pockets filled with opal ice.
You can grate a home out of peels.
You can hollow a wall from wind.
You can dance on a brick staircase
fighting with your feet to frost
or shed until you turn to salt.