Swimming through Stone

I’d clotted in stone far too long

when, quickened

by hope and desire,

I muscled outward

to part the encasing rock.

I freed in degrees,

reverting slate to shale

to mud to soil-laden water.

I now crawl, backstroke and butterfly,

dive and breach,

through stone undone.

I hum with the power of it.

I will do this thing!

I will face my past.

I will have my voice.

I will follow my hurt and my heart.

I will be affected

and be seen

and bump against others

and be as brilliant as I am

and birth my world.

Each kick and pull

sends new fluid

past my eyes,

into my mouth.

The force of my passing

ripples outward

telling the horizon

I’m on my way.