Untethered

and when at long last
she untethered herself
from his homespun inferno

the thoughts he fertilized with blight
the wretchedness he forged with her hope
and darkness he drew from her light

tethered him
to an overwhelming sense of foreboding
rendering him desperate
to understand how it came to be

that she alone
could mend her tattered wings
that she alone
could embody joy
and that to him
her door would evermore be closed.

for in the venomous abyss he called home
he was as blind to who she was
as to who she might become.

***

Inspired by the many young poets who have yet to find their wings and those on a continued quest to soar from within.

Photo: Alina de Albergaria, Fall, 2022