I'm the bird under a bridge
I don't use twigs or leaves to form my niche
I feed my young
Under a roof of sturdy pillars
Where the beggars flock to stay

And I know I should have chosen a tree
But theres much more shelter here
And this bridge is not going anywhere

So we'll get some funny looks
From the cars passing by
But each person in that car
Wishes for but a safer life

And I'll live it right here

I am the sun in the summer time
I take my time to set in the west
Heating the surface of the world
And giving life to each guest

Don't bask in me too long
I tend to burn
Some will bask for days
But it's them who never learn

I strike upon those who seek me too much
I disguise myself in light
But they do not understand
that I am surrounded by night

Treat me right and I will give you peace
But all in excess leaves the eyes blind to see
I will give you color and life
But it's best your timing is right with me

Catch me in the morning I will bless you with the morning dew
And in the evening I will cool the air that was made for you
That which shines is not always golden
But silver and copper too.  

I am like the moon
I change my form but its all written down
I am the closest piece of space and at that the brightest
But I have yet to make a sound

I disappear for one day of the month
But I slowly appear on all the rest
As if to say, "I can't guide you tonight, but let me get this off my chest.
I'll reveal myself a little each night
But give me a little rest
I have a whole world to go around
And my speed is not the best

Let me wax on my appearance
And make each night brighter
And wane once I am full
To hide once again from the fire

But don't worry I'll be back,
Just give me one night of peace
Let all be dark in the world
And let each star shine brighter than me

I need one night of darkness
Where no one can see
So I can find my way once more
And let the orbit find me

I am love, I am everything all in one
I am the rising moon and the setting sun
I am every lost soul, and every soul won
I am everything you've seen and everything you've done
But your eyes don't usually catch it
Because your time here is not done

Let the sun and the moon make their case
Though they are both opposite
They both shine light upon your face

It's the suns reflection on the moon
That best exemplifies such saving grace.

bury me underground with your sweet talk because darling we both know there's tons of it to go around
as plentiful as the soil found in your backyard, both you never gave a second thought about
say it in a nonchalant way as if you really couldn't care less if i was caught in the storm

lie to me! let me delude myself for a moment!
give me a reason to wallow in my own ditch, the one i dug for the big bad wolf i heard that was coming this way
i was free falling, i lost my bearings on the ground as the omega and alpha diluted with each other forming a shade of indigo

indigo.

indigo reminds me of the sunsets we used to see, the occasional yet daily coat the sky would drape itself in
but as if it got tired of the same old same old shade! same old story that has just begun after it the last page was flipped.

so here i stand, tracing the sky. trying to find that familiar hint of indigo, just to have something to grasp onto
it's gone and all is lost. lost and gone like many things i used to parade around my backyard because all the eyes I needed was mine.
i didn't require permission or say, acceptance for whatever i beheld. i didn't require a panel of judges with set opinions no matter
how many times i changed the game!

i had you and that was something i lost in the storm. regretfully. necessarily.
i could search the woods once more  from treetop to the smooth bottoms of azure blue pebbles or i could learn the art of letting go.
in all my emptiness i am trapped in this sun bleached room once more


i can't ever take you there or show it to you but i can tell you what it feels like if you lean in close and just. listen.

it's like i'm trapped within an ice cube but there's nothing there to trap me, it's cold. cold and lonely you could say.


hold on,
let me just grab my suitcase full of nothing.

crown jellyfish,
i want you for my own,
to constantly float and hover
on my ceiling.

it seems to be too much to ask
the transparent glory
the delicate tendrils
the secretive nature

why do you want to hide
in the seas?
predator and prey
instead of being
a distraction for me?

i want you to go against
your nature
remake your breath
forego your nourishment
and glow for me, instead

why is the world
so unyielding,
crown jellyfish?
so inflexible and unkind
sticking to its earthly rules?

for me you would be
a thing of beauty
not just a creature
trying to survive

but this cannot be so
instead i must mimic you
use you as inspiration
and create new
t h i n g s

it's a shame, really.

I am my father's daughter
the apple of his eye
that didn't fall too far from his tree
the fruit of the same loom
that I use to weave my web of lies
always shady
like I'm perpetually standing under those branches

I am my mother's daughter
her second cracked egg
that should have grown into a dove
but came out a vulture instead
didn't need a nudge to leave the nest
I was first to fly the coop
a free bird
while the others flew straight into a cage

Now the tree went up in flames
and took the nest with it
and I'm starting to think that
maybe
I was a Phoenix all along
and from the ashes
comes the new soil
that I need
to grow.


*s.mndi