I plunge my hands down,
Down into the juice of the earth,
Metal spades digging,
Tearing up roots,
Pulling up rocks and long buried artifacts of ancient civilizations.

I keep thinking I’ll find stories,
Unearth bonds from which no human can shake themselves free…
It flows so freely.
I don’t feel the pain or notice the wounds,
But the blood flows so freely from my cut fingers,
Soft and human.

I’m human,
And there’s nothing hidden in the earth that could close distance
Between you and me,
Me and me.
Who is it that I’m separated from?

These fingers rub around my eyes,
Streaks of red paint across my forehead.
I feel the breeze touch my cheek.
Rush of cool air lifts my face to the blue above,
Green and brownish, golden trickles of sun dripping through leafy canopies.

I remember what it was like to climb them,
Scale their branches,
Push through tangled growth and taste the sky,
How high could I go?!

I’m older now.
Every step is more treacherous.
My body doesn’t swing.
It’s not my hands that grasp,
But wrists are scratched and hugging bark like the reunion of lost friends.
I don’t remember you being so scratchy, so prickly.

My legs rub raw,
Sticks draw blood.
You’re no closer now than you were before,
And I’m still separate,
Lost for ways to dig,
Things to climb,
Words to rhyme and draw you near to my heart.

Something tells me that superheroes would start to discover their powers,
Find a magic suit that enables them to dig where men would never dare,
Soar through the air,
And there’s no special hero blood dried and scabbed across these cuts…

I’m too weak to love you.
You’re too weak to love me.
There’s gotta be someone who can make our hearts see
The beauty in each other,
In each other.

I’m weak and bruised.
Scars remind me what it’s like to lose.
My shoes are new and white,
Waiting for instructions for flight.
But I don’t want to sail a silver bird without sharing our approach to lands unseen.
Maybe you don’t even know what I mean,
But would you come with me?