snake and bird

it is hard for me to comprehend
that love is a thing for which some
have no vision

i know love
like a snake knows the earth
intimately
it is my home
my world
the only plane on which i move
belly, heart, voice, soul, womb
pressed up against it always
writhing over it
becoming alive by this awkward
curving way
birthing and rebirthing myself
into its hands
a piece of my soul is in it
and it keeps me drawn close
magnetically
skin to skin
i breathe it
as much as air
i live in its dust

but you
are a bird
what you know of earth
is paltry
air is your way
you seek to rise above
the dirt that is my cleansing
still
you come here
to be fed
if only for moments at a time

your kind
descends from mine
and somewhere
you must still feel it
gravity has not let you go so far
yet
you are still pulled
if not as close
you need this
you need this

a snake
in love with a bird
will never fare well
he is too high for her
she is too low for him
but she is the only reason he is here
and in him are her hopes of evolution
how could it not be meant?

one day
all birds must land

perhaps by then
she will have sprouted wings