I am nine miles above you and falling
fast once iron groans and peels away
from me and strapped
to this rock I am birthed
too heavy
there is no air
up here and
slammed, gut compressed
to spine I could
not breathe anyway
but for a feather
I would still be floating
down to you I would not be
coming too soon that
is what a fall is
through whistle gaps in clenched
teeth I can hear the last time
you laughed we
were in the desert
and you were so swollen
when I left you
I was wrapped in cold steel
they said this is how you fly
but I know now this
is a lie of convenience.
Do you remember when
Michael would shuck oranges
between teeth
juice kissing chin
this too can be done to
a wing for I feel
each piece of cold
skin pulled away in an instant.
The desert is so wide
they say we turn locks
at night not to keep out
but to keep in
they say a child
born in the desert will always
be called back
they say
I will not come back after
touching sky edge but
they were wrong about
never but not how
will you be the one
to collect me from the desert
now that you are too full
to hold me too
now that I have come
too soon.