birds
i’ve left my body for a willow tree. yes, i wish to droop to the ground like a damsel, want my branches spread like i have something grand to declare. decay so you will protect my roots from all the things that wish to steal nutrition from me, or maybe a set of chimes would suffice. you can throw me in with the wind & i’ll just start hollering pretty sounds, my yell will sound like church bells or the sound of cans clanking in pretty syncopation. i wanna mold myself into your laughter, ricochet off the walls & back into your mouth like a boomerang, i want to be the walls. yes, i want to hold you inside of me, keep you warm in the embrace of my chipped mahogany. but we’re birds, we fly free & who am i to trap you between my decomposed ribs? i’m scared of them anyway, birds, the weight of them in the sky reminds me of a compact mirror, as it watches me watch myself in the palm of my hand. but you’re the sky & i’m a bird flying through you & the weight of you around me keeps me from drowning in the current of the wind & i’m also the wind.