I am not afraid

echo of a Chicago-born accent
sits in a dumbed-down earlobe,
says with quiet gravity
                twisted intonation
'i am not afraid. I am not afraid'
this man who writes among giants
in frozen stairwells,
seeks sainthood in icy rivers,
stumbles to my door,
i whisper back, liplessly,
'but i am..
                exhausted, with back braced and stride sore

Tall one, with the grace you breathe
into me
            tell me what am I to become?
What of love lives crossing
trenchlines, of armour thrown down?
What of a broken box,
stereotypes lost and
concessions to the freedoms
of skin
           to skin
Lauren Zuniga said delicately,
'It's just being to being,
here, let me hold that soul for you,
You've been drowning in labels
for so long..'
With open palms, a shrug,
I look toward the sky
Ask for guidance
Remembering love doesn't have a gender,
Not barriers or categories to fulfill,
Just like the softest hearts of goddesses
Lie in the bodies of men,
warriors in the hearts of women.

I know not what I become,
What I reach for,
I cannot deny I am drawn to the sun
In name or intensity
A fire by any other name
Would not smell as sweet,
Freckles as scars to learn from the
Burning times,
But now, lizard-like,
I soak the energy in,
Warm
My
Bones
stave off the cold.
Winter came early
This year but
So did
Salvation