What if I pass by the gate to Heaven and Hell?
Would the marble-smooth core tie me with invisible strings, push and pull my pulses?

What if my flock leaves me behind?
Would my life end there? Or will a new eternal one come blinking by?

What if I am a static creature silently breathing in and out and in and out? What if I bring and fill dusty smell to the earth and heaven below?

What if I caress you with my fingers?
Will you come over and whisper the forest to my ears?

What if you freeze me in time for the sunbaked leaves to blow through?
Will the withered tiger give me the key to where the chapel aligns the stars?

What if I found a rabbit hole just big enough for my heart?
Should I tear it out of my chest, shove it inside, and let the mammals do what I couldn’t commence?

What if I close my chest up and start walking?

Will you still love me?

This poem was awarded 3rd Place 2022 James Ligon Price III Memorial Prize in Poetry