We belong to a world of water
but built lands atop it
and shrank from our fires –
fires that try to reclaim vastness,
reclaim the mirror of endless sun
bouncing light back and forth, infinite resonance
what fine brilliance
it must’ve been.
Before us
before we ever tasted the (glass-staining) smoke
before there was ever anyone to marvel
at the wild world
before we ever knew “broken”
in volcanoes, in the sky, in our hearths and cities
like handing out poison in raindrop quantities
to every crack it will fit into
We belonged to a world of water
but turned it to fire