Your heart’s pounding

is the body

from which we rise.

It pulses in our throats,

our wrists,

our memories.

Though long gone

are our fins,

the sediment of stars

has risen

with us

to light our way

through forests

of forgetfulness.

Your heart’s pounding

is the song

raising up mountains.

It pulses through

their temples,

smoothes pinnacles,

comforts the air

we breathe.

It is the joy

of seals

swimming

in soaring arcs,

their gleaming lives

interweaving with ours,

of whales

webbing the world

with their cries.

It is fish upon our plates,

resilient, strong

in our bones,

the tang of earth

on our tongues

the tide beating

on internal shores,

the prayers

our veins hum.

Your heart’s pounding

is the unforgiving screen

on which our vulnerability

is magnified

beyond all powers

of denial.

It is the stable centerpoint

where hope meets despair,

the heaving crucible

in which we test

our own sunlight and shadow,

the vast mystery

in which we experience

the islands

that we are,

separate on the surface

but connected at the core.

It is the holy chant and drum

that sends us away

cleansed and empowered

Your heart’s pounding

is the body

from which we rise.

It is delivery room

of the planet,

an oracle announcing

what will be our legacy

to those

still to come.