I Would Tilt The Earth For Snow Drops And Witch Hazel For Rare Hints Of Color Bright Against A White

We used to be birds In a cage together When we thought We wanted to live there

Now we soar high In different weather Spreading wings In the same open air

I've seen you in clouds I'll see you forever I flew to the heavens You flew everywhere

Driving through the hills A little after dinner time I speed in the right lane.

"Don't worry," I sound very reassuring, "I know where I'm going."

I need my glasses And I can't admit to him That actually I can't see And I"m a little lost.

He needs some reassurance Which I hand out like mints, Maybe if I sugar coat it He won't know it's a little harsh, A bit too fresh, with a bite.

It's too cold for rain, Too warm for snow So we don't know what's coming down.

But we are. I'm having a panic attack While laughing at his story.

I wan't to turn around, I've missed the exit. "Trust me," I say "It's okay."

So he does But he shouldn't.

I was a child Unsure what it meant To be grown

I tried to learn The way Ducklings learn To swim

But I was Not quite a duck

It did not come Instinctively

I came into Myself differently Swimming Alternatively

I don't think I was meant for Predestined plumage

I dropped him Like burnt toast, So suddenly Unwanted, Heartlessly Discarded, and I, The one who Neglected and Blackened him, Convince myself It was justified

I cut off my hair And the great weight of my life Fell away with it

Two kayakers come To a fork in a river Each one takes a side Each one nods to the other

Neither knows how The other is doing Paddle, paddle, drift... Each one wonders a little

My house was built under A dormant volcano For all my life, decades Spent in its looming shadow It has slept soundly

My house is barely furnished I keep bags packed And ready by the door Never have I slept soundly Or ever truly lived here

Curiosity Is not always dangerous It's not killed this cat

I shut you out Because you saw the parts of me That were broken And ugly And I thought you would leave

So instead I loved people Who shut their eyes And stayed Always hoping I would change Something permanent in me

I am sitting at the window The sun is out but it's chilly It's a lazy golden afternoon The neighbor's chickens Have escaped their coop again They're wandering down the street Stopping at bird feeders And pecking at the ground

It occurs to me after minutes Of simply observing the Peculiar way they move their heads That I have no thoughts in my own That I am completely mesmerized By mindlessly fleeing fowl It is a good day for watching And doing nothing else at all