What in your life

I see a necklace sitting in a glass case,

with curves and flames

she calls to me

she is so beautiful

I ask to hold her in my hands

the salesman tells me,

"That is Kali Ma"

and hands me a card

fierce goddess of death and destruction

I lay her down

her beauty terrifies me

fire and fury

I turn away,

as if ashamed

this is not for me

her gaze follows me

out of the store

I carry her name

in my throat for years

her rage is a shelter,

flames curling around me

the way a mother’s arm

blocks the wind

she kept calling,

long before I could answer

then,

on a hot summer's night,

the bright red blaze of the sunset summons me

I pull over and watch

as it sinks beneath the earth

she asks me

what in your life is ready to burn

and she hands me

the match

it is time

the sunset gives way

to the darkness

my hands smell like smoke,

my voice a reclamation,

the ashes spell my name

it is a fire

of transformation