each night in bed my hands clench

the edge of grey skyscrapers

my fingers cramp &

disappear in the

depths I scream return to

mid-air wait while autumn leaves

drop underneath the sight of city lights

highlight buildings I’ll visit next time I hang

& cringe on repeat till morning I land

on our kitchen chair to hear

my dad say God

is warning me

that my homeless

soul might sink to the depths

of the abyss if I don’t pick a room

in his house or at least keep reaching

against the gravity that seems too heavy

even for the Almighty if I don’t keep clinging

 

with shoulders that have always been too weak

I shrug off the wings he stitched to my body

from birth his battle cries have frightened

fallen flesh that would rather cling

to anything but a cloud of hope

rather fall again just to hang

& eventually fall

asleep