How Do You Expect This Kite To Fly In The Wind? Poem by RIC BASTASA

my friend, how do you expect this kite to fly in the wind

its long tail is disconnected from its body like a tree without roots
its paper is thin, its skeletons too soft to stand against the wind

how do you expect to live in freedom,
on uncut navels, on shallow disappointments, on shaky guts,
my friend, to live in freedom
like the kite, we too must go against the wind
the stronger winds against us are much better
much wanted
we shall then fly so high against the wind that gives us the lift

and when we gain the heights
up there, we look on all the things
so little before us