Future self

A poem about what life looks like on the other side of a leap

I find you in the rubble

where I sit across an empty chair and spoon butter into my mouth

and walk for days

carrying the old things on my back

there’s dust under my nails

and ash in the throat

and Lord knows I’m tired

but there you are

open-armed and dimpled

and isn’t it amazing

how there’s no darkness here

only bells and birds and flight

light breaking through the blinds

the hum of the radiator announcing dawn

I say yes without a word

and suddenly I’m hungry again

I want to eat it all up

to pluck cherries from a paper bag

and lick my fingers clean

to smash my shins against the roaring tide

wake early

and turn the faucet to freezing

only to step right in

unblinking and unafraid

to thank God for the invitation