Birdie

Do you disappear when I look away

Or do the winds of time ironically

Show up behind schedule?

Do they carry you off gently

Unlike the mother who failed you

Or do they move, hard and fast,

As that’s all you know?

Do you hold onto the few memories

You had, despite the harshness,

Or do you simply move on

Inhaling a new breath within

A new vessel?

I only ask because I feel 

Like I could’ve done more.

I should’ve done more.

Would you have liked to be

Raised in confinement,

Beaten and broken,

Or did you prefer that fate

I ultimately left you to?

I only wonder because

One day I’ll be asked

Something quite similar.

Wherever you went

Dark or light,

Fast or slow,

New or unfathomable.

I hope it is safe and warm

That you may be happy

Now, despite my leaving

In your time of need.