You hold my love
You hold my love like a bird
With a broken wing
You nurse what feels like
A forever alteration
And fix me a splint —
A twig of hope for my
Fragile ailments
You cradle me in love
Soothing coos calling
A burst of butterflies
Paper wings sprawling
Mine with liquid stitches
That only come from
Wet-lipped kisses
I feel forever changed
Yet instead of broken
It’s freer
This kind of love is seen
Reminding me of the notion
That I don’t need flight
To feel emotion
Even broken wings can still
Use feet
To pitter the path
And meet the future with glee
Shelby Catalano is a Pacific Northwest based poet and writer. She’s been published in Poetically Magazine and the Deviant: Chronicles of Pride anthology from Inkfeathers Publishing. Her debut poetry collection From Heartbreak to Hopeful is coming out this spring. She enjoys used bookstores and nebulously traveling to chase off existential dread. Visit www.shelbycatalano.com to learn more.
