These Wings

Originally Written in 2007

I can hear it now.
Your words have given new meaning to the dream.
Your cheers plotted the course
Your cries warned me of what’s ahead
Your love gave me the strength to face it.
All lessons desperately heeded by these ears.

I can taste it now.
Your tongue that nursed the wounds
Your lips that gave shape to my desire
Your sweat that reminded me of what’s real
Your flesh that showed me what I have to learn.
All sensations hungrily embraced by this tongue.

I can smell it now
The flowers of purity
The rocky earth of integrity
The death we must all embrace
The air we must all return to.
All paths to be followed by this nose.

I can see it now.
The horizons we laid out for ourselves
The roads that we must follow
The reason in the blur
The light I’m drawn inexorably closer to.
All truths now seen with painful clarity with these eyes.

And yet
As I drift off
To join the pensive nimbus
I can’t feel it now.
The sturdy ground that once gave my life balance
The warmth of the season’s kiss
The memories I once clenched in my hands
Your loving embrace that carried me to this place.
All things out of reach because of these wings…