You Took the Wind

You listened to the lessons in the stories that I told, and nestled in my shadow when the winter winds blew cold. I kept you close, beneath my wings, when shadows came to call, and when your gaze began to shift, I fought the coming fall. I pleaded with the darkened night, the very moon beseeched, and painted you a portrait of the stars you never reached. You always felt a step behind; did I just walk too fast? Of all those steps behind my stride- I couldn't catch your last. You once told me you’d chase the dawn if you could know the sun. You said my light would keep you warm if only you could run. Without you here to trail behind, my shadow, it turns cold, and when you fell, my light grew dim; now broken wings unfold. You took the wind with your last breath- I guess you never knew that all those times I touched the sun, I flew because of you.