Haunting echoes down the crawlway
Peering through I see your eye
Looking back at me blinking
We can only whisper here voices
Will shatter the door like glass
And the garden beyond with it
Slippery with tears I fall back
Wipe them from my eyes
And try again I'm looking for
Handholds

Daggers from my eyes like rain
Leaving plain blue sky and 
Just a hint of fading storm 
Memories of burnt ozone cremate
The blood has lost its boil
Frosty teeth inject the cold
Seeking escape in to out
Is there warmth in the body?
Why then can touches be so
Cold?

A tethered eagle only watches
Wasting feathers on his perch
Flying birds they know not where
Only savor shallow hunger
But under feathers birds have skin
That only cold wind touches
Yet they can and do hope on
At least until they fall to earth
And maybe then they'll see
That even as a prisoner
They are far more free
Than me.

--Dana Laratta