Clouds

“Clouds”

Where did these clouds storm from?
What has the sky become?
I used to watch for birds that sing
I wanted to be like them from the window
When I heard them in the willow
And listened to the church bells ring.

I cannot walk across the rainbow—
There are places I cannot go.
The bridge calls upon me to leap
My bed calls on me to sleep
With poison, unless crossing the thoroughfare
Death should be waiting there.

But I see what you might say
Should I leave you someday.
Where did your face dematerialize?
I no longer see it before my eyes.
You walk past me, and I need you
To help me wait until the skies are blue.

There is no new day, to be forgiven.
Nobody reaches for the dismal Heaven
As often as I to taste the spirit that is gone.
I need you, but there is no blue to talk to—
No dreaming in the living veil of dawn.
The guilt of yesterday when I lost you—
Will you forgive me for the way we separate?
Will you forgive me for being too late?
I want to talk to the sky to see if you hear me—
To see the sun as though your shadow would come near me.
There is a chance that I can learn to fly
To sing to the birds who would reply
With songs that bear your forgiveness.
I stretch my wings, but it is hopeless…
There is a chance I could fly away
If my wings would but obey
The call of the wind of your memory
And my soul’s delivery.

I want to set myself free; if I could be unborn,
If I could wear these clouds that adorn
The angels in the thunder and the rain—
I want to go there to see you again.
I cannot see tomorrow without wanting to die
If there was only a chance I could fly.

© 2022 Marten Hoyle