Today I heard the sparrows chirp like
cheap labor as I stepped over cotton and polyester
to grip my hands around the flimsy neck of
consciousness. My thoughts fly to the future
where success and goals completed linger
like clouds that refuse to rain.
Today, I pulled on my socks and shoes with
my emotions as calm as a lake without wind.
My mind scattered, but focused, I met another
sparrow on my path and I stopped, prepared to meet
a lion. The sparrow explained, and flew off with the
promise of an answer. I watched
it disappear behind a tree as the clouds blotted out
the certainty and confidence. Today,
the winds filled the trees like balloons as
storms loomed in the distance while I laid
on flowery cushions filling my mind with attempts
at distraction from more and more inevitability.
And though I spoke aloud
my misgivings, they kept their form.
Unlike the world beyond my skin, today
there was no thunder to my lightning.