Deliverance Poem by edward lilley

I awaken feeling full and potent
Swollen with urgency
Lines of verse moving forward in me.
Impatient words piling up like traffic
Fully formed, fingers, tongue, lips, and hands
Waiting to fly
Needing to be caught,
Held gently, dried off,
Given room to breathe.

I must quickly make my way up out of the tangle
Of old dreams and bedclothes
Find a pen
And catch these wisps
Open my arms and claim them
Open my mouth and name them

Get a basin. Boil water.
We have made it through the night
From the furnace of my resistance
Through labyrinths of gut and brain
This wonderous creature pushes out and into light.

Blood on it's face and seeds in it's mouth
It is whole and born alive.
I clean it up
Hold it briefly, not mine to keep
Stand back
And listen.

There at the edge of all my belongings
It sings a song born of my own voice
Testing the will of it's own wings
Eyeing the open window

Finally, I uncup my hands.