Catch and Release

When I die

Do not bury me

I do not wish for my bones to mix with the soil

I do not care to sprout flowers and trees from my broken decayed pieces

I do not want to grow taller and reach towards the sky

Only to be chopped down and plucked out of my home again

I do not want to wander through the gravestones for eternity

I’ve had enough of that in life

Instead

Burn my remains

Crush my bones into powder

Chip down my teeth and disintegrate my hair

Unrecognizable to anyone but my own atoms reaching towards one another

Store me in a ziplock

A brown wooden box plain and barely larger than the melody box I used to own

(The chipped pieces of my existence rattling inside may sound just the same)

A small but appropriate and tastefully plain urn

I do not need the jewels and embellishments

I am dead

Travel with me

In that inoffensive container

Buy me a seat on a plane

Strap me in

Transport me home again

To the sea

Any coast will do just fine

Swim into those waters with me

Hold me close for just a moment

And release me back to where I once came from

Let me swim into the depths

Make friends with the sea creatures

Be made into homes by coral reefs

Or microorganisms

When I have sank away from you

Back towards the comfort of the depths

Do not cry for me

Your tears can not mix with the saltwater coursing through my fragmented reality

Instead

Leap from the water

Spray droplets as wide and high as they can go

Scream into the horizon and know

Somewhere deep within the depths

I am home

Again

When you believe that you miss me

Visit me by the seaside

Feel how I caress your toes as you look out to the horizon

And get stuck in tendrils of your hair as the wind moves me

And when you’re ready finally

To meet me again

Watch for rain

I’ll be there every time

And I will show you how the world catches you

And releases you

Back into the depths of home