Something Has To Die for Something Else to Live

 

(1)

will it be the dream that dies

a dream so old it’s become the hardness of the bones

letting go          leaves a spot        a space

of heart-sized vast expanse      opened with goodbyes

 

so the next dreamer

of hummingbirds that cradle into an open spot

flash their necks at dawn

beat their wings in tranquil turbulence

can breathe ideas into bone

 

it’s about love not lack of

 

(2)

sunlit swallows catch drops of water tossed

into the air by a churning river

a river that gathers and carries

gives and takes

 

this is about light not lack of

 

something has to live

paint from the last painter’s brush

rhymes from another poet’s tongue

dreams from another dreamer’s life

 

from mountain snow

melting in sunlight

giving water to a river that gathers and carries

gathers what becomes

the hardness in the bone

 

carries dreams      that won’t die

Mary Strong Jackson