flight

see here
the virtuous souls
with their still-wet wings
our grounded innocents

'fore they take flight
into the air
of a sky
pushing with the hot currents

we are in their
eyes still seen
as a high shelter
in which to nest

they will abandon
the place
together or apart
to test the wing

abiding
the rules of a higher
regulator
who makes the call

and we consent
so that the nest becomes
a diving-off
place

no urgency
commands their flight
greater than our joined
embrace and our push

it is our
pain paradox
to be selfish and
selfless at once

that of course is
the definition
of mother and father
womb and loin:

give and take
hold and release
harbor and cast off
time and no time

the wind comes nigh
we watch the wings
we turn a back
and they fly