Cat and Bird

Grey skies that are thick and full can bring the most paralyzing silences.


I step kitten-like upon the large squares of these city street sidewalks,
the wind haunting my skin with steady kisses,
as the world all around me seems to fade.


I am as fragile as a floating bubble blown from a child
in a country field in the Swedish summertime,
and the slightest touch can break me.




I have to melt into my walk, my steps, my destination--
I have to become one with my motions so as not to fall completely apart.
Although you chewed me up and spit me out,
I will always miss you with every piece of my heart.


Where are broken birds supposed to go?
Where do I fly to now, I just don't know.
And soon again will come the snow,
and I must devote myself to building my nest...


It is only here that I will have calm.
It is only here that I might find peace.
It is only here that I shall be safe.


I once told you that I didn't think I'd be strong enough,
and I once told you that I didn't think:


That I could be all those things
That I could make you happy
That I was the right bird for you
That you would ever understand...


Understand why my heart has been made of steel and bolts, needles and pins, zippers and locks--but possessing a warm, red, blood within.


I step kitten-like upon the large squares of these city street sidewalks.


Perhaps it would have been better to have been born a cat than a bird.