The Road of Trials

The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.

I am three.

and life begins as the trial.

on the road to nowhere, taking that ride.

divide this down to the last three breaths I've taken,

three days, years,

decades.

constantly turning in the fire,

changing.

First, you are the gangly thing,

born to the smooth feathered family.

You will wonder, in your worry, what

wise truth you were not given.

where do you belong?

Next, you will fail yourself

again and again

with your capacity to fold and freeze,

squeezing your voice

into a small and silent crime.

Third, you will be summoned to bloom

in the mire of shift and shit.

you will be handed the keys to your cage.

you will be tempted to lock yourself in.

you will dream of

wings and sky, and long necked birds

that glide on water.

you will long to taste the water.

Life after life will take you to the edge of the roses;

nearing sweet and precious somethings

that carry poison in their thorns.

Here, all is lost and,

far from sea, is the urge to swim.

walk.