---In your shadows I am swimming


Trailing my fingers lightly through the wind,
I am missing the comfort of soft hair under my chin.
Today I am an excavator. Tomorrow, a spelunker.
There is always something to learn.
I want to slip inside murky irises and see new things.
Colors not yet named.

Eyelids separate two whizzing microcosms.
“Everything looks sharper when you open them.”

Masquerading as a concrete and steel druid,
I etch my name through the clouds and sky.
Today I am the window. Tomorrow, the asphalt.
We lay together as the world rushed by underneath us.
My earthen quilt grows with the patches of yesterday.
Forgotten flavors that linger on the tongue.

The man in the stereo is singing my line.
“You can’t always get what you want.”

The fire in cupped hands is nothing new.
I twist the stems between my thumbs.
The crimson amber stains as powdered rain collects in my hair.
Today I am the photographer. Tomorrow the negative.
Drenched in sunlight, I am missing the shadows.
The comfort of obscurity.

Hoarse whispers tickle my toes as I brush aside the past.
“I can’t wait ‘till next year.”

There is acid in my lungs as feathers fall away from my calves.
I ricochet against the world, a gleaming trail.
Today I am the eagle, tomorrow the snake.
There is no solace with a belly pressed against the earth.
My wings leave vapor trails along the edge of here.
Between water and sky.

Sulking child, why do you wallow over there?
“Will you just do this for me?”

Clinging to mist, I find myself floating through the shadows.
Colors oscillate around a heavy skull, wrapped in fatigue.
I work my way backwards to see what I’ve missed.
Today I am the mouse. Tomorrow, the box.
I shift back to drive, but it’s never the same.
Let me go gently, and I will linger in the grass.


I yearn for enlightenment---