Aftermath

When my world
burns down around me
 
I take the cold ash
and crush it
 
between my fingers and thumb
 
I roll it in my upturned palm-
a shaking hand whisking
back and forth
 
for the empty beliefs
that landed as thoughts
and manifested action
which led to this inferno
 
I empty, seeing black dust stains
stick to skin
as a reminder
of creative destruction
 
I bend
to the ashen rubble
on the earth
 
and know that only
sun
and water
and time
 
will promise change
 
I call the new shoots
to unfurl.