In Celebration of Weathered Things

Soft, though hewn from the hardest things

Insides displayed without shame or loss

Giving

Your particles scattered to the earth

Making up the very ground beneath my tender feet

A treasure

These lives so lived

These souls so old they don’t count time

My thumb caresses your round edges like a lover

My gratitude for you in my exhale

To hold you and acknowledge all you’ve survived

Even though I don’t know it

I recognize my heart in you

I celebrate your love made visible

Now that your skin is worn away

Now that you are returning to me

A polished thing

Exposed and gentle

Still very alive