Birthday

I am learning to love

the process.

There is nothing else.

Just the onion peeling back,

sun-shriveled and dying

until a sprout peeks through its layers

and suddenly, death is just rebirth.

I embrace it all:

The sunsets and moon rises,

The tears that flow so easily

That dry on cheeks

and leave flushed ears.

There’s a glisten in your eye,

your arms around me.

I feel your heart through your shirt

and your breath is alive.

There is no direction here.

No getting closer. No destination.

These years roll on,

green and blurred like country roads.

Keep this playlist on.

I tap my foot to the rhythms.

Often I sing along.