A poem by Chloe Chricton

tripping over again 

talking and laughing and then 

the feathers fill your mouth 

you try to pull them out 

flush them down with liquid from a tap 

alas, water off a duck’s back 

iridescent strands of string 

blooming like flowers in spring 

tangling around your words 

nothing to do but leave them be 

look to me and see clearly

they’ve been here before 

they will come again 

you stick with me 

while i cry on the bathroom floor 

feathers and all 

keep telling me how much you love me 

that we will be okay 

let yourself go and they will leave 

find the wings from once they came  

and fly away