Poetry

Liane Metzler

By

Lisa Morris

You Were Born With Wings

You were born with wings

wrapped translucent

around your naked skin

waiting to unfurl-

to fly away

though we ached to have you stay.

You were born with wings

so we tethered you with tubes

IV’s and ventilators

NG tubes and oxygen

labwork and broviacs

surgeries and suctioning

and finally blood…

so much blood.

You were born with wings

and we tried to tear them off

watching in horror

the times they opened wide-

holding tiny hands

as though we held your soul

sitting at your side.

You were born with wings

but at last you grew strong

and when your wings slipped off,

they whispered to the ground

lost

in a pile of cloudy x-rays,

and we found

it wasn’t lines that kept you,

but the hand of God himself.

for Harbor Silas, who survived ECMO

Lisa Morris

Lisa Morris is a freeverse and formalist poet, nature explorer, artist and traveler. Formerly an agent for authors, she is now author of two books, “Your Love is Inconvenient and Sublime” available on Kindle, and “The Sorcerer and Other Poems” available through Rainfall Books. Lisa is married to surrealist Cliff Snell III.