To Griffin James

Sailor's warning red sky startled me awake.
There was an urgency for you, a timeliness
that tugged my heartstrings and ushered you in
like a surprise we certainly knew was coming. 
You turned within me, pressing firmly against
edges already stretched to weariness. Now,
I see exhaustion came from holding back, my love,
from majestic lessons you instructed with
relentless, earnest presence. You clipped my limbs
to build a nest for essentiality, requiring only
incubation in the truth. Expectations collapsed to
supernova dust, dropping my center through blackhole
dimensions, penetrating where mountain roots
reach from the soul's sacrum, descending icebergs’
secrets, mysteries that channel only after chains
around throats release with screams, then songs. 
Unblinking eyes’ acuity made the mark, soaring.

The scarlet flag of dawn ebbs to soft
pink, like the promise of your brow,
violet so pale the crocuses claim it in their centers,
and gold, regal treasure, protected and revealed
at the final breath before clear, egg-blue. Claws and
wings fold gently to my side as your weight rests
on a trust-woven eyrie. I bow my sharpened beak
to new sunrise, new sanctuary, new Sovereign.