I was drunk when I met you,
but even then, I didn't want to let you go,
I was too afraid that the world
would capture you & never give you back to me,
so I claimed you during our initial conversation,
& weeks later, the first night you fell asleep in my arms,
your face, turned & lax, on the bridge of my chest,
I knew that you loved me,
felt both vulnerable & secure with me,
& Lord, how happy I was.
It felt as if a small sun
had risen up inside me.

You embraced me
& proceeded to do things
that completely consumed me, Angel,
& what man who is residing in his right mind
wouldn't want a concubine
whose spine was designed with wings?
Whose mouth knew the flavor of the sky?
Whose hazel eyes knew what slept above the clouds?
Sweetheart, I swear,
I even used to taste God when we kissed.

But eventually, at some point in our relationship,
I realized that the only thing that we were relating to
was distance, both miles & nights apart,
& I knew that the world
had started changing you
when I began finding fallen feathers
sleeping in the bathtub.
It was then that I came to understand
that I was witnessing your divinity die,
& I could hear the faint whistle of the end
drawing near like the mighty winds of a tornado.

I could feel you pulling away in those moments
right before sleep would claim us,
or in the early morning when I would
leave for work & the front door
would stall before coming closed.
I could feel you
drifting beyond my breath
& the weight of another man
anchoring the bed sheets that we shared.

Even then, Angel,
I still clasped hands,
clenched eyes & cast prayers
that no harm would come to mar your body.
I prayed for you as though
your pastel palms never pushed me away.

Angel, when you left, you gifted me music,
gave my waking body the sound
of your wings drumming against the air & your torso,
& even though it is still a sobering feeling
to wake up three times in a single night
& realize that it is over,
that there is nothing left to barter or give,
that the other side of the bed
will be indefinitely light & empty,
sweetheart, that your warmth is now gone,
I choose to remember the good times,
those all too brief days & nights
when something far larger & greater
than the both of us held us up happily
together in the grip of love.