To Touch the Sky
#1 of Poems
I don't typically write poetry, but this one popped into my head and stuck there.
To Touch The Sky
The walls of my home surround me, sheltering and warm.
I do not want to leave, but the cry of creation pulls me forth.
With tender lips, I kiss the cool air outside, shivering as it flows along my unprotected skin.
Crisp, cold, fresh. My safe haven now behind me, I wonder at the vastness of the world.
Beaming, the sky's fire greets me, welcomes me. I revel in its warmth. To hold it would sear me to ash, yet I want to draw it near.
Strength courses in my veins, nourished by the nectar of the earth below.
Pine, heady and sharp, mingles with the robust scent of loam and peat.
All about, the song of my siblings whispers on the playful breeze.
Our limbs outstretched, we offer praise, though to whom or what we do not know -only that we must exalt.
Above, open sky, writing promises of puffy white on robin's egg blue by day.
Cold diamonds twinkle when the skyfire damps, beckoning me to rise and dance among them.
Day by day my body grows, ever upwards. I reach, stretching for a blue caress.
Bruised slate, frigid water falling, the moaning of restless wind.
Absent the chittering squirrels and fluttering birds. They shelter in my care.
Warm to hot, hot to sharp, sharp to cold. My skin now leathern, element roughened.
A new sound, rhythmic, a bass tattoo on the earth. Tramping feet, hollered greetings.
Men in bright red and orange, shouldering burdens, running thick fingers across my hide.
Metal, oiled and gleaming, slicing the air. Thunk. Agony shudders through me.
I beg them to stop -do not do this wicked thing! My plea falls on deafened ears.
Keen metal bites deep into my flesh. Again. Again. Amber lifeblood pours from the gash.
My limbs quiver as my soft heart is bared. The men do not stop, do not appear to care.
Pain finds its voice in my groan. I ache to flee into the watching sky.
Thick loam rising to greet me. I strike the ground with a thunderous crash.
Dying, I lie amongst fallen brethren.
No more the birds, the squirrels, the wind and rain.
Already men come to take me away, float my corpse down to buzzing saws.
Below, I feel the trembling earth. My children slumber safe within, awaiting their turn to touch the sky.