return is onwards, not to remain
but to become—born into final innocence:
self-evident as an animal
whose eyes, ensouled, see through.
 

but, before all else,
do not forget to tend the unborn child,
for it is quickening inside you
and eats of you.
 

so suffer your ripening,
and learn to be high-sorrowful;
never mind the guarantee of eternity,
for it witnesses itself.
 

tempered by fire,
be a temenos for the uncaused,
and, above all,
do not forget to die.

Krystle Eilen is a poet currently attending university. Her works have been featured in Eunoia Review, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, BlazeVOX, Poetry Life and Times, ZiN Daily, and Literary Heist among others. In her free time, she enjoys reading and making art.