Dear Mother

Mother, my sisters hurt.
They’ve been turned into prey,
their souls abandon bodies and scream
and I hear these pleas
and I can no more.

Mother, leave me in the open field
and let all-witnessing sunset
pour its peach and grape
and wash me to the shore of night.

Let me slide into the dusk and hide.

Mother, fill me with bird songs
and gusts and whispers
and shadows and streams and branches
and marry me to the wind.
This side is too heavy to lift
for a child of love
and kindness and truth.

Mother, my sisters cry
with the ghosts of tears
but I see them.
So cover my roots with soil
as I need to stand tall
and turn the hum of infinity
into the voice
they lost.

Dear Father,

We still have time to talk
about everything unsaid.
How I pretended to be strong
cause my tears left you
numb and helpless.
How you left not gifting a word
cause you thought
I’d fathom why.

We do have time to
shed tears and wash
our wounds together,
even though every breath
is drawing you further
away — as if away-er
was possible.

We could talk but
we never will.
Our love is on
different wavelengths.
So I’m writing letters
to burn.
You’ll get the ashes
when it is your turn.