On White Wings

I watch
as she unfurls her arms
wing-like
a silvery bird that soars out
over the scarred land
wings beating down
against the updrafts
tattered feathers
still aloft

she tells the story
about the baby
she could never have,
the soul mate
she lost to cancer,
and the sweetness
she found with the husband
after the first fifteen years of arguing

white hair
white light
white air
loose skin
knees
that bend only so far
and pop
dry feet
that slide on the burnished floor

a thousand thousand miles logged
on that heart
and those bones
no young dancer
could do this dance

First published in The Beautiful Cadaver Anthology, Is it Hot in Here? 2019