Picking Up Shiny Things

disposition

Everyone likes me cheery.
They suggest a ponytail
for some bounce and sass.
I comply. I like me cheery, too.
And I assure you, I’m a fool
for constellations, ice cold beer.
and the unfailing confection
of a Texas sunset to sweeten
the ending of the day.

But, let me have my spider’s den-
a darkened doorway
or a rusty bin
where I might give way
to my briary birthright of desire.
And when I am lost in words-
lost as a ragged sail in a hurricane,
oh, I am lost, I know,
in that spiral of chaos
and calm- let me be.

Never think I do not see
the vista unfurled
at my fingertips,
though my heart still beats
like the wings of some black bird,
wild and wanting sky.