I once tried
to live inside
a bird's shadow
I ran after it
and contorted
my thoughts
and limbs
then it would move
go about its day
I'd chase
the blue
black
purple
gray
memory of flight across mesa
river
stone
chute
I yearned to get there
to feel the final
cool
I trained my legs
to keep up
and my heart
to beat
enough
juice
I went on
like this
forever
until the day
the shadow peeled
from ground
to air
and
I
flew
to love
a place
and live it
fully
is to feel the thorns
of it
and appreciate
their purpose
to feel
the dry throat
and want to drink
every drop
of a dry sand place
and wipe your mouth
and sigh
I feel you feel
my art is escape
but I'm here
and I'm thinking
of you
when I do this thing
that I do
the one lovely cloud
defying the clear sky
denotes joy not grim maybes
it says change and new
and different days
it reminds rain to come
and do its thing
even when blue skies
feel better
the pressure in my head
is of aging
the drying out from
wet years
shaking the blur
from too many direct blows
the white dots hovering are like
the stars I rarely see
from too much shelter
from a place
I love
but that keeps me still mostly
and I don't do
a good still
look after the flame
sparked long ago
for seeing dark spaces
care for the light
like a child
whose first lesson
is
love
we've got to carry
the goddamned flag
now and focus
on its condition
and how it snaps
in crisp raw freedom
the best things
don't make sense
now
do the thing and
understand it
later