Citadel

Even at a young age, I
sensed something...
I remember when it came to me
after my mother had tucked me in

how deliciously safe it felt
until the evening when I knew
that all too soon this would end...

that I could no longer
take for granted
something loving and normal
as being tucked into bed

and sleeping so soundly
that I couldn't imagine
those who didn't have
food and a roof.

The realization
startled me into silence,
shocking my very dreams
into silence,
never to be so innocent again-

before the huntsman found
the last wolf,
before the fall of the citadel.

Now every cloud of pollen
exploded with moths escaping-

my life a trembling bead,
a raindrop sliding down the
spittle of a spider's web.

Life would never go back,
always in constant flight,
running as if stung by bees
protecting the hive-

the sun- its relentlessly
blinding white shift
overwhelming the cool, lost
siege of twilight...

a brightly striped lizard
scrambling for shelter after
having had its tail pulled off...

how many tails had I grown
in my reincarnations?

But oh! please, all I wish for
is a single moment - a long
moment of true stillness

before the huntsman finds
the last wolf,
before the fall of the citadel.