Human Kite

Once I woke to find a splinter
forgotten in my northern eye
scratched and scribbled to remove it
but it was shy so warm inside
tried my best to re-remember
what foe or friend had placed it there
wading through the hall of records
the sand and sea beneath my hair

I was lost and floating frantic
through such piles of ancient grime
I had never learned to swim in
my own kaleidoscopic mind
always stuck to simpler waters
soft push and pull of others' tides
shallow blues and lofty hazels
the only riddles I'd dare ride

though when I confront the mirror
the look she gives me is black as night
deeper than our mother ocean
absorbing every speck of light

Once I dreamed the end of winter
was hidden in my southern eye
I clicked my teeth and asked for spring
but she was wilting closed as ice
I tried to warm her by the flame
that leaped out of my northern stare

lacing lashes through the ashes
powdered gray compressed my care
I was hidden between pages
obsessing over abstract time
between all the roman numerals
a ticking face so far from mine

kept my wings all folded under
moving within the grid and guide
but today I'll test my edges
and fall or free from off the side

with the moon I will uncover
my waxing luminescent sight
for I am just a constellation
and lightning flies this human kite