double-tapping my phone every minute
in case you were thinking of me
didn’t want to seem desperate
couldn’t let you know I was thinking of you
paralysed by something
that didn’t come in a bottle
ending each night with
your fish-hooks
caught in my beak
& river-water running into my eyes
my feathers haven’t grown
to hold a Galaxy
the sky is crawling with sickness
I cannot fly to you anymore
you never opened the window
or left fresh fish in your garden anyway
I was starving before this excuse
not to leave my nest
& I am too weak now
to push the broken shells
away from my bed
so I sleep
in the bodies of our children
& dream of what they could have been
if only I’d taught them to dive
a little sooner

I would have loved to see
a struggling thing
caught in their mouths
just for a moment