by the creek\\\'s edge (I & II)

oh? are you still there? standing against the willow sweep

you are beautiful and delicate and so devastatingly human.

why? why have you come here? don’t you know that this air

is poison for your little glass lungs and fluttering hummingbird

heart? how young you stand among the deep creases of the old

trees, how they cup and frame your face as if to steal some of 

that innocence for themselves, greedy and mournful, bound

by righteousness. you will be safe here, but not forever. and thus,

in the light of this revelation, perhaps you should go. like

golden wheat that sways in the wind, sun’s rays braided into

crackling whips that both sting and are gentle against the ankles

of mankind. if i was not so wretched in touch perhaps i would

have kept you, a canary on my shoulder. i would take you around

the world which you do not yet know, but the world is too wild

for a tame thing like you. how sorry i am for us to cross paths once

and never again.

hello? call my name like a lark and i will come to you like the

worst of sinners. i don’t believe in salvation but if i did it would have

clear eyes like you, voice soft as a crane’s wing and pure as a mellow

lake. a smattering of geese take off from the ground and spill their

white, white feathers upon your bristly crown, adorning your head.

crouched upon the branches, knee-deep in creek reeds, are you not

afraid, then, of the locusts and fish that linger in the water? are you

blind to this pain that nips your toes and leaves welts on sweet skin?

are you a fool to come here, and lend your breath to the wind that

really does not need it, and all the creatures who really do not deserve

such kindness? in my age i have seen many things and witness countless

wonders. my journey has brought me across the sky. i have touched

both ends of the horizon with gold-tipped fingers and swallowed mouthful

after mouthful of silky sand until it spilled out of my ribs that hold

nothing. inside your chest i can see a warm soul pulsing with life, yet i

have nothing. no soul to reflect yours, no mirror to match your kind gaze

and so why are you here? what do you seek? i would give you everything

except myself. it is not worth it to gift you a damned being.