Fledgling

Well, that was quick! Thanks Merril for such a supple dverse prompt line.

“In space in time I sit thousands of feet above the sea”
From May Sarton, “Meditation in Sunlight”

Fledgling

Days stretch into weeks and months, of feeling lost In space, in time. I sit thousands of feet above the sea in my thoughts, waiting for my wings to fledge, so I can let go, fall or fly. Either will do.

I watch the landscape change as the sun moves across the sky, the cloud-patterns dappling the fields like passing ghost ships. When night falls, the fields are flat, full of silver and night-noises. Leaves shiver. I watch and wait.

Stars open like blossoms, so close I can almost smell their scent, and something, someone whispers, the change is coming.

Through the fabric of my shirt I feel the sprouting, the sharp tender pain of pinions, their hard sheaths breaking into down, fluttering in the night breath of the wind from behind the moon.
Look! I call to your shade, It’s time. I’m coming!