Independence

Once the wind caught on the sea
And its dress snagged upon the crests
Like a girl who couldn't help falling
For a boy with too many cracks
Then the wind tumbled between the waves
Crashing with the water when it couldn't find the sky.

I always wanted to live in the sky,
Wrap clouds around me--dip myself into the sea--
And wander into roaring waves
Of emptiness; Rush as the sun crests
Rush like wind and water into the cracks
Of myself, so that maybe I'll stop falling

For people who can't keep themselves from falling
Down, and who won't quit looking at the sky
So they can avoid all the cracks
In the sidewalk as they weave through a people-sea.
Well, I'm not used to riding the crests
Of others' success; I'll make my own waves.

So though my hair falls down in amber waves
I fear the strands will keep on falling
And my white-wash hands in lunar crests
Won't show you a spacious sky
Unless you want to see
Through star-spangled cracks.

Eyes and eggshells shattered, tiny cracks
And the tears streaming gallantly, pulsing waves
Of heartsickness; sobs that could choke a sea
Or seven, and then my heart is falling
Once more into the rising sky.
Sometimes it sinks, sometimes it crests.

But in the hottest months, it always crests
And under summer rays my spirit cracks
So all my spring hopes float about, sky-
Bound, puffed up, in ballooning waves
And you wonder "Why aren't they falling?"
And it's because they're empty, and you are full under the sea.

Don't pretend like I'm the wind trapped between crests and waves.
I know the cracks I step on, an I'm tired of falling,
So let me be the sky, and I'll catch the sea.