Content Warning: The following discusses suicide or suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 in the U.S., or visit this list of international hotlines.
Red Gravel/Free Across the Roof-Top
She stood stretched in the air, as if she
Was winged & knew just how to fly
Childish, dark, second-rate wasn’t her
She meant to be long, golden, blue eyed
Moving then, she climbed up attic stairs
To the gravelly roof & felt wild, free
There she danced over the red stones
Next, she bent forward, told herself Jump
You can flash bird-like, be butterfly-scaly
Fly now, she called up to the clouds
Carry me to the rim of the rising sun
Hot, surged, she shrugged off her clothes
Then arms spread, she jumped, stretched
Her wings, sure she could skim the sky
