the hunter

his failing strength shines through his teeth

stepping lightly through the snow
the hunter gathers his running speed
and notch'd quickly on his silent arrow
his failing strength shines through his teeth

and lifts up a voice to shout below
"the valley is gone you humble elk,
the valley is gone you carrion crow"
and the land was gone, of honey and milk

eden-town with it's back all broke,
where a hunter stood to shoot it down.
"i am man and i prevail, so
let yourselves be present now"

and the woodlands bowed
and said to the hunter in a growl
"you have asked, and we say no
can we not live amongst the proud?

you men are so quick to chop our oaks
and burn our soil for gold.
can we not live with simple folk
who appreciate our olden toil?

the hunter let forth his arrow
and struck the forest's bones
and when he exposed the marrow
he laid down and died alone.

such is life, i guess.

a sharpness and a poignancy

i have found a sharpness and a poignancy
in the arms of a strange embrace
and i will pull my weight onto your back.
do not scratch your pride, and i will keep
you; not in hesitation but in a pure voice.
displace the feeling, my love -
that when we come together and touch
our bones and eyes and cheeks and scars
from a falling step, we were cursed to
love each mistake and remain perfect
and loyal to our own hearts.

-aidan knight

a higher branch

jump rope

creased and cracked
your jump rope
it whips and skips
it creaks under my feet
giving in - to persuasion
binding my tongue to the roof of my mouth
lifting me up into a higher branch
pushing my feet and guiding my hands
its cord gating my hips and sizing my in-step
it is a measure of what i am and who i am to be.


-aidan knight.