a place to land

my darling sparrow,

you are a dragon, a darting firefly
coped up in too tight a cage.
fire burns your tongue,
your fingertips,
never quite ready to lay down
drop down, drop out of the running

for first, third, thrice
snapshots- five second exposure
and already too long gone,
but not quite done, not quite empty
not when there's still a mark
to create, a point to make,
an arrow to wait on,

one more target down,
another to push over the edge,
but only just barely
one step, two steps

don't forget to smile,
one step more, a battle
resting between hips, highs
and improvise, just once

upon a time, there was a mountain
tied to a vanilla latte
and impossible to move
this way, that way,

one way or another,
wings are growing and
you'll be up and away
one more adventure,
this time not on a page.