She sings to you,
and you know she has returned
with food once more.
She’d **** herself
to throw it back up
into your mouth,
where it will ruminate
in your stomach
until you fly.
It tastes of love and bile,
and you lap it up;
there are things
in this nest
that you cannot name.
You try to
creak out the word
nourishment
but the crackle
in your throat
makes you sing instead.
She wants the best for you.
And off she goes,
her elegance beating
hard against the wind,
wings angelic,
archangel to you
as you watch the vultures
pry their slick bodies
from the shadows.
Take them in,
their greasy rapture
hovering,
and you’ve never understood
circles, but you know now
that you hate them.
It’s a relief when she returns,
exhausted,
stomach full.
There’s more *****,
and you would think,
if you could,
of what it must be like to die
alone.
Then, you fly.
You must.
You do.
From a collection of poetry I wrote for a creative writing portfolio in second year of university, titled 'Spiral'.
