ecological succession

on growth & rebirth & being trans

determination comes in fits and starts.
you wake to find that wildfires, while you slept
went burning through self-concept, down to ash

like that which feeds the ferns and feeds the moss.
one new shoot sprouts, another right beside.
you cut your hair, you dye it, fiddleheads

unfurl along your temples, spores fall down
and soon give way to seeds and blades of grass.
clover springs up from a rejected dress,

you walk and brambles spring from underfoot.
you finally learn the words for what you are
and dig your hands into the fruitful soil

that is your body, planting saplings there.
they spring up eagerly. they're young but strong,
like you, who sees it fit to sanctify

your name. within the space between your ribs,
a patch of asters bloom. your head is crowned
by dragonflies, aflight, their wings like kites.

one april day, the sunset hits your eye
and in its glow you see yourself anew.
you realize, you slow but surely built

a selfhood. far beneath the shade of oaks
and maple trees, in dappled bright and green,
you walk the glade you built, in vibrant spring.