A BORROWING OF BONES by ERICA MACNEIL

I feel the buzzing of wings 

whirring, stirring 

the hot, humid night air of midsummer

I lie in the cool of the grass 

waiting

The last time they came

their delayed arrival 

convinced me I had missed them

their ETA 

lost in translation

Suddenly they arrive

I catch my breath but

miss my chance to 

bring your starlight with me

captive in the palm of my hand

I shudder

wings spread, poised  

I join the others in their 

flight across the fields

I twitch and wriggle 

Sticky pollen clinging 

dreaming in drunken stupor 

inside the petal 

folds of a flower

busy circles over the comb

How strange 

unbound to earth

weightless

no longer

a victim of gravity

The pull of the Earth 

tugs me closer; the air shifts

a wind current lifts my wings

wet with the dew of the dawn

breaking over the horizon

I relinquish my hold 

feel the nausea wash over me 

I must wait until spring 

to find out if 

I may fly again

I nod and disappear 

into the overexposed 

line of landscape

seeking out that starlight 

you promised me before I left

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Dancer by training, teacher by trade, writer on a whim. Community leader, ally of the marginalized, advocate for the underdog. Look for her work with Neon and Smoke, Archived Press and Sky Island Journal.

IG @hintsofgrey

Substack/writeronawhim