A bird once flew into our classroom,
My pumpkin teacher none the wiser.
In my mind I willed the bird to come closer,
Probably to distract the teacher.
Maybe class would be over, evacuation so no one got bird flu.
The principal might have caught the bird,
And if the bird pooped the janitor would be called.
No one could do math with that happening.
Or maybe I wanted the bird to lift me up and take me with him.
Out of this room my body was chained to.
Take my body to my mind, amongst the birds.

Rain makes the mighty fir stronger
As she creates a home for unsubstantial creatures
Glimpses of birds mean little in the long life she is to endure,
Hundreds of years with thankless children add up to nothing.
And still years alone wear down the mightiest of giants,
Nature brings great storms to test her will.
A groan, a thud, and silence
Roots splayed above a grave.
Even after the rain stops holding her up,
She has not escaped her job of nourishment.
Her ribs cave in,
Maggots selfishly taking their fill
As their fat bodies writhe in the flesh of god.

My mother smoked in front of me yesterday,
I guess she'd forgotten after a few drinks
"Strange things happen at weddings"
My dad insisted, gesturing towards the full moon
Caught in the trees whose roots twisted amongst the bodies
I thought my cousin's decision to have her wedding at a funeral home was beautiful
At first
A choice,
Til death do us part.
Two lives meeting and twining together infinitely more
Until they joined one another in the earth.
A toast and a few dances later,
I stepped out into the darkening spring evening,
Lovers thrusting branches from the earth to snag the moon they'd promised long ago
And maybe they really do love each other to the moon and back.
All my mother sends into the sky is smoke
All my father sends into the earth is broken toes
Wishes on stars
For forever and never

When my dad cries I cry
I hate him for that
I've fallen in love with the mother I never had
Another fireball
But with patience to count sprouts
And read books under the stars

The last time my mother smoked in front of me I was 3
I walked in circles on her bed, surrounding my sister
Parading with likeness to mommy
The soap on the inside of my teeth is still bitter.
Children are formed in image of bloodline, and when parents don't love themselves,
they shatter the mirror.