Bluebird

I fell in the bathroom
and I was all right
but still I felt as though
someone needed to know
in case I had a brain bleed
or the bluebird I excited this morning
stopped by to chirp strange messages
into my ear or through my skin.
I didn’t mean to rouse the bluebird
but as I fell I thought of him
and a second later he was present
within me.

I fell in the bathroom
and I was all right
but as if the watch I never wear
was two seconds too slow
the time did not pass correctly
and the moment passed even as I cursed
my not putting on my watch
and timing all of this to the second
when I fell to the bathroom floor
with a bluebird’s approval and though
it meant nothing it was enough
to frighten me.

I fell in the bathroom
and I was all right
but I claimed to myself
that it was not all right
even though the bluebird scolded
in a voice I did not recognize
in a voice that did not sound right
as I picked myself up off the floor
with balled fists and expelled breath
and stood against the wall and
it was enough to make me jealous
of the already dead who did not listen
to the bluebird as they fainted
into the abyss, the dark hole
that longed for us and wistfully
attempted to swallow
us all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T