I Want to Drink the Sky Tonight

Clearing the pipes

Welcome, and a warm first hello to the newcomers!

I’m so happy you’re here.

Each of these Sunday poems center loosely around a tarot card, and this week we’re checking in with the Tower.

This card reminds me that change only feels like the end of the world until the dust settles.

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Contents:

1. Drain

2. Macchiato

DRAIN

Grandmother, turn me into a plumber:
Teach me the skills to thread a drain into the deep part of my soul,
The one where the feelings puddle up and rot the floor.
Teach me to account for that place in the building codes.
The work is all for nothing if the pipes don’t hold.

Keepers of magic, turn me into an electrician:
Teach me the skills to uncross all my wires.
Show me a way to ground the house,
How to keep myself and everyone around me safe
And covered in light. 

Contractors of the stars, turn me into a worker:
Teach me the skills to take orders.
Humble my forehead to the dirt beneath the grass,
And roughen my hands so that they can be of use. 
Show me how to say yes when asked. 

Universe, turn me into a leader:
Teach me the skills to reach out for what I need.
Show me the way to speak without causing pain,
How to pull people together while keeping them on their own feet,
And which path among the many to take. 

But first, let me become a plumber, wise.
It’s high time I got to clearing these pipes.

MACCHIATO

The full moon is a macchiato dot.
I gave up espresso,
But I want to drink the sky tonight.
It looks more delicious than boundaries held tight.
I can’t believe the moonlight subdued me
After how hard I fought.

Macchiato means two things in this land:
One palm-sized, the other too large for one hand.
When all else fails, I focus on the dot
Where the moon settles to the ground between the trees.
When my feet fail me,
I fall to my knees. 

The dirt is where the moonlight finds me.
I can never get my nails short enough
Not to catch up the soil against my fingertips. 
Long claws look uncanny on my hands.
They’re not what I want or what I need.
When offered, I resist.

I want to drink the full-moon sky tonight. 
Let my fingers find stars and hold them tight. 

Did you know I have a podcast now? Check out the latest episode:

Live with Lizzy #7: Each Return to Health