Where The Sky Meets The Earth

By W. Todd Kaneko

A man can’t die where there is no earth

because there will be no place
to bury him. His body is the sky
and understands the language of birds.

His body says the earth is made of everything
that has fallen from Heaven

while no one was looking. He promises
to defy gravity and then return home.

A man can’t reach for the sky and not feel
he is falling. It goes on forever and the birds
talk about the awesomeness of flight

while the oxen labor in the fields,
while the cows eat grass and dream

of slaughter. A man can’t talk about flight
because one day, there will be no sky,
just the body covered in earth.

And now the sky is empty of birds.
And now the earth is covered in flowers.

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