Discernment

A seed

once told me

That getting buried in the ground 

doesn’t mean 

You will never 

See the sky.

And that long bark

Up the wrong tree

might be necessary

to get where you're going. 

Even when branches

fall.

And break a family's

tree.

And the comfort of a nest

is broken.

But mending 

A broken wing

Is still

good reason 

to look up.

And still,

I Cannot fly.

I can only dip quill feathers 

In a jar

filled with ink.

Be still.

And think

About aiming 

a little bit higher

Up.

But mostly 

I have Looked down 

at my feet

Just to make sure 

they are 

standing 

on something

Solid

I am no stranger

To losing 

my footing 

here.

Or crawling around 

making sure 

I am at the bottom

Of solid rock 

just to stand.

Still,

I am acquainted 

With thoughts 

About building castles 

high In the sky

made from melted stone

from the pits of hell.

There was a time

I resided

Mostly in the fog.

But there is a bullet,

that resides in 

The cage 

that keeps my heart.

I don't know

if I should pull the trigger 

Or keep the safety on.

I don’t know

Which way to be destroyed 

would hurt less

Bursting wide open,

Or never letting my heart 

beat

its own thunder

to lightening

roadmaps

to my veins.

Once,

I overheard 

The dark telling the knight 

That Shooting

Is only for stars.

-Kate Karpel Wilsey