deepundergroundpoetry.com

Yorty Creek

Yorty Creek

You thought it was a woodpecker.

but I always remembered a hummingbird,
and it makes sense, doesn’t it – you,
sturdy, balanced, chipping away slowly
your place in the world, and me,
flighty, wistful; afloat in whirring frenzy,
bursting with nectar tasted only when
shared, never known home
as anything less fleeting than a whisper
of tulips, dipped to petals like gossamer
thread through a needle: whimsical, im-
practical, sometimes piercing, but always
found purpose in helping things grow.

I don’t know, you said
but I can tell you what I hope
and after that I admit,
I heard nothing -
only feathery thrumming
jammed to silence with a
shoe-drop thud. I’m still
learning stillness
as more than
free-
fall.
&

in this parable of mistakes, you
are the archetype I understand
most and least, and even if
all you meant when you said
we were like a dream to you
was eventually,
we had to wake up

somehow
I can’t regret a moment
wasted believing in some prophecy
or myth, colliding us across continents,
universes, across fire and water and dust, once,
twice, into a fragile infinity we dared the fates was
mystic-spun from more
than coincidence.

It has to be, you said
the way I’d started, unbidden
this old Navajo fable you
heard as a child, of a brave little bird
whose beak pierced blackness, gave us
the stars we slept under that night.

You said in that year we went
without a word to each other,
knowing I was out there writing
poems to keep myself sane made
you smile, and I wonder
if you’ll ever find out
                          you became one.

&
tonight,
when I saw the very
first hole
in the sky, I wished
that if you do
it will make you smile.
Written by katyazinn
Published
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
likes 5 reading list entries 1
comments 4 reads 1136
Commenting Preference: 
The author is looking for friendly feedback.

Latest Forum Discussions
SPEAKEASY
Today 10:14am by mel44
COMPETITIONS
Today 9:03am by slipalong
COMPETITIONS
Today 8:55am by PatsonTheFriend
SPEAKEASY
Today 3:03am by Mstrmnd1923
SPEAKEASY
Today 1:37am by Grace
SPEAKEASY
Today 00:31am by mysteriouslady