When I have returned this breath I was loaned
By profligate stars and generous time,
Surrendered this flesh I rented, not owned,
This small usufruct of clay and of slime,
The lime of my bones bound back in the crust,
The salt of my blood restored to the sea -
When my changed essence, released from the dust,
Sheds melting skin to rise again free,
Will I halt at the threshold; will I pause
To look back, to savor sweet memories
Of wounds and ecstasy mixed in the ooze?
Or, purged of carnal joy and agonies,
When I to heaven amnesic return
Will I halt sometimes, puzzled, wonder, and yearn?
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