earthbound you were

reaching deep, digging into ground with sharp claws

made of steel and rust

green sprouted around you, canopy of emerald hearts

reaching into me with leaves and roots

water dripped off your fingers, feeding the growth

you were a caretaker of my future

planting shards of my soul in the shadow garden

they shone underground, black crystals filled with past

buried, forgotten, safely concealed

flowering up with mist that hid grinning maw

of my sins and misdeeds