Untitled 09

He holds back his wings

             because he is afraid of what youth

             will do to him

    corrupt his youth

    sweet like nectar

"Steady your heart, for we beat soft like the monarch", echo the wings

    but the monarch lives but only a short lifetime in the sunlight

He holds back his wings

              for he is scared

              that the feeling of flight will tempt him

    to soar to places tabooed

    venture to venues of exile

    to lie on the winds of misguidance

He holds back his wings

              desensitizing himself from

              the sky

   blue, peaceful, that carries the cloud

   which moistens the earth

Angels can't fly in the rain

              for each drop dampens the grooves

              in their feathers

   letting gravity ground their rhythm

   the beat of their wings lose time

And they sink back into the Mother Earth,

              whom envelopes her children when

              they've ascended too far

   for this

He holds back his wings

   afraid of letting the levitation

   seep into his mind

               making him vague in the earth

               but run deep in himself