love fell upon me
i wanted to pet his soul
as though it were a baby bird
knocked from a nest in a bad storm
his beak fell off in my hand
and i placed it in a bag of shoes
maybe as a keepsake, maybe as a charm
in case i ever need to change direction
i shall have many styles from which to choose
and his mouth to keep me from self-harm

i thought to crush him with my heel
but that thought came after falling in love with him
it was just the wounds talking
as he told me it was real
still, the wings could not be mended
for fairness lost does not heal
how can one regrow life?
i sure hope the fall was nice

baby bird, i don't want to out live you!
i never wanted to out grow you either
didn't you see how we were together?
when i look up and see so many birds in a flock
it saddens me your only flight was so alone
harder than the fall, even tumbling stocks
more broken than your broken wings
was the broken feeling
of you falling out of my dreams

the bird's skeleton
took my thorn ridden heart
and had a scultping party with a chisel
carving uncrossed legs
into the intestinal tenant
as if perversion were all i felt
as we fell

I know not how simple words could ever detail
the morbidness of death i feel
in this chamber of lost causes
apethitc prudence
is a toxic rain puddle at best
i lack the callous courage to endure
a single soft lifespan, more or less
fallen from the robin's nest


(C) Jessica Robbins