2. re-appropriation

she's drifting along through the cracks in this universe.
an eggshell of cosmos, hardened and off white in the distance
an inevitable barrier she will reach someday. but for now, 
her feet just soar beyond the ground; appearing, disappearing in the distance. 

        tails drifting through the clouds,
        contrails realized in molecules other
        than hydrogen+oxygen: carbon, nitrogen, sulfur,
        and the other elements of skin. 

since she is soaring in the distance we must remain here,
butting our heads against the exigent cage and as she leaves,
we forget. slowly, we forget the fantastical, remains re-imagining
the reality of our prison. it goes back to being
 
        day to day. teachers reminding us to leave our
        poetry in the conundrum of new oldness,
        images of our own with words passed down
        from our forefathers, forever keeping us

locked in this pattern of re-appropriation and re-defining
all that has come before. Yes, she is another space shuttle,
another cummings setting off for that hell of a universe next door
and she is her own blue dove, learning flight for the first time. 


 Amadaun's Cracked Pearl, Beth Stone's This One Stings, Steve Ersinghaus' the poetry teacher,Susan Gibb's Freedom.