11/5/11

Heart-shaped Cocoon
By Jason Sturner


-for Denise-


A folding of your wings;
home from gliding
across
the clouds.

You’re weeping—
you’ve discovered
that eternity
exists.

Now you understand
why we hurt so badly:

You saw love without its veil,
and the gossamer threads which lift you,
which pull you straight down;
which brought us together,
which tossed us apart.

But we’re still in love.
We always have been.
We’re only transforming our love
into something new,
into something better.

Hence our lonely days, our poetic hearts;
in separate beds, in perpetual dark.

I once had wings
and that same urge to fly.
And I did, and I stood at the edge,
and I wept your same tears.

Yes, I once had wings too—
who do you think gave them to you?


- - -
Jason Sturner was born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago, where he has worked as an elevator operator, rock n’ roll drummer, graphic designer, naturalist, and botanist. He has published four books of poetry and currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.