Raven in Flight

The sky has never forgiven you
for your blackness

when you fly
inside the backdrop of night
I am the only one who sees you

you claw your way
into my dreams
but I cannot
find you in the morning

your beak weighs heavy
on the ruined dusk
I hear your guttural call
when I am running
down to the dry river bed

I remember the same way
you flew over me
when I was running away
in second grade

how you knew my mother
would find me
how you have
pulled away at the skin
of my regret

years have passed and still
you land at random
on the uneven fence
of silence

always helping me
to understand
what it means to
live as the heretic

to realize
there is no contrition
in the fading light