Spirit of My Spirit
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

Spirit of my spirit—shadows of birds
move across my body. The hands of the sea

are reaching for you.
Working is the achievement, and words

must spill into the cup of application.
Lose your footprints moving through

fields of panic-grass, stopping to admire
the willow-catkins. There’s only so much

time. Spirit of my spirit—shadows of birds
moving across my body, I still cannot fly.