Phoenix Burnt

Haiku - 2020

it’a been a long time

since I flew away from you

wings tough as leather

and not just my wings

my spirit trapped in callus

i’m done with the pain

my downy feathers

stained brown each time you plucked them

each time you ripped them

i’ve tried to rise up

tried to raise my wings and fly

forgot I’m flightless

such a tattered bird

far more wounds than I knew of

wounds I still can’t face

hands pressed down in sand

a gargled gasp in the dark

waves caress my feet

sinking inside me

fall into the grains of glass

stranger claimed the night

not an accident

no pinhole self inflicted

liar, deceiver

not the only one

hunted by some. tamed by you

still trapped in your cage

my feathers scattered

in your house, your car, that bed

two hands, two feathers

does he still have one?

i know you kept each of them

decorate my shrine

your pile of feathers

downy mountain in your hands

each one a story

tell your parables

prophet of the grounded bird

but take no credit

you plucked the first one

you started my religion

kept your truth within

my dark ritual

inspecting the bloody holes

i must have done them

but each of their words

their silent prayers to my heart

awake my spirit

cut through the callus

their hands have the remedy

massage out the scars

restore my image

banish out the blaspheimer

rewrite my doctrine

when i can break free

i will shine like a prism

I will soar like wind