Let It Fly

All I want to do is let it fly.

Feel the words leave my body, like birds spreading damp wings for the first time.

There’s no stopping this, no slowing it down.

The mess pours from me, unstoppable fire,

Burning my lips on its way through,

So hot I can’t believe the paper doesn’t scorch.

Smoke pours from my throat and this story

Takes shape in front of my eyes,

A moving picture scrolling in the air,

Mirages that only I can see.

But I can’t keep it in or hold it back.

It will burst forth like the howling wind,

Screaming to be heard and recognized.

I will not sit down and shut my mouth.

My pen will never cease its frantic scratch.

The pitter patter of my fingers on these keys will play like rain and never die.

The voice bursting from my lungs may turn bitter, horse, and fail,

But I have the words, and they have the power.

I can’t stop it, won’t stop it.

Talk over me, scream, shout, cry.

It will still come rolling forth led on strong winds, with the fury of

Hail, threatening to white out your vision with crisp snowy oblivion.

Lightning may split me in half, but the words will never disappear.

I turn to dust, but this lives forever.

By Alissa Tsaparikos