Flight lessons

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night."

"Blackbird" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney


sometimes humanity outsings You
in the playlist in my head
when I feel like a broken-winged blackbird
in a field of pristine doves
gently cooing at eachother
in a muddled tongue that leaves me guessing
stutter stepping away from the aberration
with polite grace and beauty
allowing me to stay as a guest
as long as I acquiesce
their windy take off freedom
under the blanket of my grounded state
that fourth picture in a child's game
"Which one of these things does not belong?"
little cherub fingers pulled like magnets
a unanimous vote
and just as the cushiony treeline catches the sun
phhwump, they lift like a dancing ribbon
toward the clowds ablaze
with soupy solar oranges and pinks
and for a moment their silhouettes seem black like me
why does the sun set faster than it rises?
But that's where I sing until I find You
my light in the dark black night
as the lonely, lying metaphors
rise up and evaporate like steam
in the light and truth of You in the ink of my story
this is where you stretch my wings
toward the habit of praise
and I listen
as You teach me how to fly


"Everyone sees it. God's work is the talk of the town. Be glad, good people! Fly to God! Good-hearted people, make praise your habit." Psalm 64:9