poetry dump — i let the mountains have me

I let the mountains have me,
let them fold me up in their roots,
          rivers flowing through my fingertips
          and shadows rolling over me
          like lazy clockwork.
I found miles and miles of earth
          who had never known
          the soles of my feet and
          dancing butterflies
                     who seemed to be
                     scraps of paper being cut and
                     uncut from the air.
I found music
          in the metronome of bird calls and
          plucking strings too afraid to die
          to find rest
                     when the moon rose.
I found the quiet breathing of trees
          keeping perfect time with
          the mountain’s heartbeat—
                     a rhythm I pulled from the soil
                     with desperate palms,
                     clutching the prayer to my chest
                     that I would someday find peace
                     like the saplings who simply grow
                     because they love the sun.
I found a sort of solitude
that could never know loneliness,
          a peace that peeled me open
          to press moss into
          the lining of my chest
          and caressed my face with
          gentle rainfall
          like a family I had left behind.
I let the mountains have me
because I wanted to find myself,
          to see if there was more to life
          than running
          until your bones become an
          unladen tombstone.
I let the mountains have me for a while,
and the mountains
          gave me a version of myself
          I could walk beside
          for the rest of my life.