A Taste of Sky

I love him the way You love something you know You're gonna have to let go... The way you climb a tree Just to get a little taste of sky, Knowing that it'll only make Being perpetually earthbound That much more painful- Knowing that climbing down Is always so much more difficult Than reaching up- I love him like you swim hard away from shore, Swim out so much farther than you should- Diving through blue-green breakers like freedom, Losing yourself in the expanse of Enough salt water to briefly forget the fact That you're going to have to come back in Sooner or later, fighting back against an Undertow forceful enough to tug Your heart out from under you... And how the wind will chastise you When you emerge, dripping seawater Like the memory of freedom; It burns your eyes and tastes like tears, But your skin will have memorized The gentle kiss, the caress, of the current, How it pushed and pulled... You know you'd do it again... I love him like you watch a fire You've already decided to let die, Since you realize that it would be foolish To let the whole world burn for The sake of a single flame... So you just look on as the light dances, Standing as close as you can Until this is as much heat At you can stand- You have nothing more To give to the fire, now... All you can do is pray to God, Please don't let the fire die... Not yet.