Contract

white sheets of paper
with tiny black words
black captive birds
crafting a gilded cage
made of promises
attached to your signature
still bind you to agreements
your soul no longer wants to keep.

make your inventory
of unlived lives
and choose which birds
you are willing to set free
and which sheets
will go on adding
to the story of your past.

make a bonfire
and watch them burn
old agreements
of how you would be good
and obey the rules
pay your dues
and show up on time
give away the thing you own
and enrol your children
in the same binding system
that has clipped your wings
and caged your potential.

yes, watch a new kind of bird
rising from the ashes
it is a terrifying thing
a white sheet of paper
a blank canvas
with no written rules
other than the integrity of
who you are becoming.

imagine a world
of no contracts
where trust and integrity
are the only safety guarantees
where you give your word
and allow it to unfold
beyond any sheet of paper
and every human you know
and every business they may own
does the same.

Renewal

It is in the smallest of deaths

where life is renewed:

The tips of your fingernails

manicured away

still echo the scratch of ecstasy

on your lover’s flesh

shedding sunkissed skin

uncombed hair

and unhatched eggs

blessed by your moon blood

unbroken yet by

the seeds of life.

It is in the closest of deaths

where life is renewed:

The  feathers of your tiny bird

buried away

still echo the flutter of wings

longing to lift

the weight of caged potential

as you kneel to mourn

another loss

and you bless the earth

that swallows your bird

to sow the seeds of life.

*In memory of my daughter's bird who passed away yesterday, to bless her grief in losing a friend and dealing with death for the first time in her life.