sometimes we just had to run

our eyes would meet across the bedroom floor

your leg would be twitching

mine would too

that nagging, lactic vibration just below the knees

when fathers thunder could be heard above the radio

despite the volume being so high that all that came out was white noise

sometimes we just had to run

run across the yard

with hollywood rain lashing in our eyes

run so fast neither of us felt the wet creeping through our slippers

lacing our white socks with brown water

snails crushed beneath our feet

sometimes we just had to fly

hands slick with fear and infamy

we thrust ourselves over the fence

gliding aimlessly, beautifully through the still night

above the roofs and the streetlights

leaving the town below, until it was but stars and ghosts underneath our wings

we would roar and thunder, our voices swelling together like the very instrument of time itself

tonight we eat the flesh of the mountain

tonight we save ourselves from the bones of rodents carpeting the floor

tonight we are free, endless and wonderful.