The Black Swan

I wrote this next poem in four "acts" because I wanted to describe four phases of my life as if it were some sort of play. The entire poem is about a struggle I was having with myself during each of these phases: the white swan versus the black swan.

Act I

Our relationship was like a falling feather

Plucked quickly from an unsuspecting bird

Light and drifting from side to side

Spinning and cycling straight toward the earth

Just to be collected by someone else

Act II

We slow dance in the kitchen like flickering lights

Just like I did with my ex in a prior scene

Covered in goosebumps that I wish were feathers

To take me far away from here and into the sky

Just to be collected by someone else

Act III

We are motorcycles in the night going fast

We eat wings and drink whiskey sprites

We wear masks and capes and change faces

We play in the shadows and I wander off

Just to be collected by someone else

Act IV

I fight with my past like two squabbling swans

My long neck is tied in a knot and I'm drowning

Kicking at the dark water to come up for air

My wings are clipped and I wash up from the lake

Just to be collected by someone else

One thing I love about this poem is the imagery in Act IV. I distinctly remember writing this poem in New Zealand after seeing a group of black swans float by me. I'll never forget the darkness that I tried to capture in my writing and the beauty I tried to capture in my mind.