I stood on the edge of the cliff.
Salty
sea air bushed across my skin.
My
lover by my side.
His
wings spread wide with confidence,
then
he jumped.
I
watched and smiled in delight,
light
reflected off his wings,
as
he pursued his heart’s desire.
He
was happy,
so
I was happy.
The
man dressed in white,
came
to the cliff to clip my wings.
He
was kind and soft-spoken.
He
called himself, Protector.
My
wings needed taming.
I
didn't mind.
He
was gentle,
and
my wings were just as fair as my lover’s,
perhaps
even more fair.
Maybe
that's why they needed taming.
Much
later, my lover flew,
I
stood still, watching from the cliff's edge.
I
smiled in his shadow.
He
made such lovely shadows.
Large
shadows.
The
man dressed in white,
came
to clip my wings again.
My
lovely wings needed taming.
They
were to be admired, adored,
not
used.
I
didn't mind, I had other work to do.
My
sons needed rearing.
They
grew until they flew.
They
were happy,
so
I was happy.
Much
later,
my
sons flew with my lover.
Their
wings spread wide with confidence.
I
stood on the cliff’s edge lonely, but joyful,
observing
their freedom.
The
man dressed in white,
came
to clip my wings again.
My
abdomen was swollen with my daughter.
Even
if he hadn't clipped my wings,
could
I even fly?
Much
later,
my
lover flew with our young daughter.
It
was beauty beyond my imagination.
She
was happy,
so
I was happy.
The
man dressed in white,
came
to clip my wings again.
I
asked him, “Why must you clip my wings?”
He
replied, "You know why.
It
has always been so."
The
man in white called for my daughter.
She
couldn’t hear him.
Her
wings were so young and fragile.
How
could she possibly need taming?
She
could barely fly.
The
man in white called for her again,
but
she was too engrossed in freedom to notice.
He
would not clip her wings.
I
told the man in white to leave,
and
never return.
Much
later,
my
lover flew with our children.
My
wings were lovely, but frail.
Perhaps
tamed beyond use,
could
I even fly?
I
stood on the edge of the cliff.
Salty
sea air bushed across my skin.
With
the sun setting in the distance,
my
wings spread wide with confidence,
