Jul 5, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post

Layering Down, Layering Up
©July 5th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

There was the layer so thin, so fine
Only eyes that had been open in the womb
Could see it, and not drown in ecstasy.
This was the layer of plasma and iron.

Then, there was the layer of tissue
And the layer of muscle and tendon,
Then, the layer of skin, and hair.

Beneath all these was bone.
And there, lay life and death.

And beneath that
Lay a shining mind
Fine, as vast spider-webs strung across
A whole constellation of stars,
Making itself cell by cell,
Layer by layer, into  creatures
Filled with life and dreams.

Or, perhaps, the layers
Of blood, of bone, of skin
Of consciousness and thought,
And sentience and memory,
Of endless dreaming
Formed each other, one
Over the other, like hand
Over hand, over hand.

And, like a photograph
Emerging like a person from sleep,
In its silvery emulsion,
I was born.

This consoles me
When I think
About dying.

I shall be unmade
My layers will be stripped
And I will float away
Into the Dream whence I came.
My Self will re-form
Itself into what I long to be,
Always dreamed of being:
A bird, passing through
Layer upon layer of cloud
And air and light, turning
Into each, as I pass through.

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Layers

Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Layers, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost