Folding

All the elements fell on me
at once, but burning above all,
like an ember in my throat was
the thought of loving you.

I lost my aim and my every sense
of direction has evaporated.
I want to grasp my fate, but my body
is trapped in an automatic position.

My head rests on the edge of
a swell of the willow’s river.
She has wept her branches into
permanent drooping husks.

I met a badger by the fire
and his eye held two pupils.
One pupil was a spark and when
he blinked a star was born.

You were a star among a
wall of blackness that was cold
and you warmed me with no more
than your mere existence.

My love is small and unorganized.
This pretty little bird is dying to fly.
Even when the cat’s paws are near
I still have been the fool enough.

Now I retrieve what I so easily handed over,
and I can’t imagine feeling any more ashamed.
Am I wrong for feeling differently?
Another door comes to a close.