We
       s
          p
       i
          r
       a
           l

down
           d
             o
               w
                  n

back to our first beginning

   we were little more than f l i g h t l e s s birds then

so utterly humble
so infamously bleak
so lost in shambles
so unbearably weak

               did you name me then
with paper and ink words

               did you find joy sparking
in the solitude you heard

              are we no longer secrets
              sealed with the stamp of burdens
              we call names
              bringing each other up
              from the depths of ourselves
              that remain unfathomed

              why do you recoil at a certain name

     as if, when you you hear it, you've touched

                             a
                          l    m
      an open  f           e

     as if, when you say it,
     it's the first you've experienced shame