For all the words I might have said

I need more sky
           I need it blue and wide
and unencumbered
           by towering steel and glass
I need clear skies at night
           so that I can track the stars
in which my destiny
           is written

I need more sky
           into which I can propel
my dreams and figure out
           a way to turn back the head
of the woman I love
           and I need more birds
to populate my skies
           and remind me
of the lightness of being
           and the ease of movement
from one place to another
           the exhilaration of flight

I need more sky
           and less dusty roads
that merely carry me away
           from the one I love
less long dry roads
           that snake out
into the wilderness
           never to return

I need all the welcoming sky
           I can get and under that sky
I need her to tell me
           that I’m forgiven
for all the things I never did
           for all the words I might have said
for all the times I might have slipped and fell
           and for all the times

John Lyons