i. descend
i've lost weight since we last met
we fit differently from before-
bird-thin, the both of us-
but this hollow in your feathered chest is
still where i feel most at home-
your jade eyes
a nest, to cultivate my happiness
i've been betrothed to the birds
you stayed back, earthbound
i fell, a cataract, from the red cliffs
you watched me sink, earthbound
i was ripped to shreds in the tundra
freezing and thirsty
and you listened instead to the flowers,
drowning me out as i whispered for help
they told you sunlight stories
when i was trapped in dusk
i was an inch from the edge of night
and you fled
so as to not be consumed.
ii. unpend
i know what i told myself-
i said i shed my mourning veil-
but i still weep for the morning lark,
your lightening song
haunting my brittle nightingale
i write you letters every night
with a fountain pen slathered in red ink
saying what i never could,
spilling my regret on the page
(wake up with bloody hands)
i should have known
you were no one to trust
you're just a fledgling
we're all so naïve.
iii. the end
i take flight, for brave is the man
who would leap from the bluff
to prove his worth;
for i can take action now-
i can say this now,
where before i sat on the sidelines
i will not wilt
in your arms
just for a moment
i will hold you tight
my prisoner
thank you for keeping me alive
i don't need that anymore
thank you for staying by my side
when i had eyes set to kill
thank you for helping me to ascertain
that i’m no phoenix
thank you for participating in
my stupid guessing games
you were the match
to ignite my nicotine habits
but now i'm the one who's
decided to spark and fade
green-eyes,
i've made a decision
and this time i'll stick with it-
featherlight now,
i will make my escape