Between Myself and I

Unbalanced I live
in this house divided
floors always tilted
one way or another
making navigation difficult
and rest a faded dream.
Caught in my own dynamic
surge and ebb of energies
I am always turning, moving,
plunging down beneath
the swell to where
no light can reach, no heart
keep blood from slowing,
thick and gelid,
dense as stone--
Or I am rising, flaming bright,
and quick as lightning
dancing over the dark hills
at the farthest rim of vision,
leaving hot ash in my wake
my path an arabesque
of inspiration, traced
in scorched earth, my name
a signature of fire.