a long time ago, death and I took a walk
walked the streets for days and weeks and months
all we saw: fallen angels
sighing angels, crying if they dared
dark wings, broken maybe
just as the hearts and souls
the heavenly home forgotten
and why they fell
we have all been hurt and failed
we agonize and bruise and offend
and in anger close and seal the stairways home
resenting ourselves and others, loathing Earth
we keep this to ourselves
we keep nudity covered, no indecent exposure
practicing decent self-denigration
"I will never be good enough"
heart bleeds, eyes haze, confusion rains
we suffer and fall, crushing flowers
tasting ashes, dying before we fade
at the brink of the abyss
the Scream of Nature
in every living cell unseals the stairways
up and down our spine, the flow
at first as salt tracing tears
then rivers and streams
oceans unbounded
darkness turns brilliant
roots cherish ashes
no more fear of brightness, of strong winds
ruffling the feathers of dark wings
true greatness embracing the weather
the landscapes and all that live therein
