Flight


          I know women
          who would lose their children
          like throwing off a robe,
          unbraiding a red ribbon
          and discarding it, to let
          their wild self fly free.

          I know women
          who put aside their children
          like cheap jewelry by the side of the bed.
          I know women
          who never seem to wear them at all.

My girls, I do not want
to be free of you.
You are like my wedding rings
which I could have easily slipped out of
but wear
every day that my heart beats.

I want you near me.
My girls, my husband,
when I see a sunset
I want these two eyes
to be part of the eight who see it.
I want our laughter and stories
to be so tangled
that our memories weave into one dream.

This is my time with you.

Soon enough, you will be off
swimming your own new seas.
Soon enough, we will step back and watch you
blooming and bursting in solitary ways
in your own fresh, separate skins.

How could I waste this?

Oh my darlings, you are not my cage.
You are my wings.

~Alicia Bayer



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All works on this site Alicia Bayer unless otherwise noted.
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