Until I Was A Cathedral Poem by Robert Rorabeck

Swing-set above the world
I didn’t believe in anyways- starless busses
And wind tunnels into the
Canyons of lost jobs: the fireworks didn’t go
Off,
Just as no one said the Pledge of Allegiance:
It was a filthy class,
And as I taught to them, I secretly thought
Of metamorphosis as I prayed to the god
Right there:
Said, god- give me wings of any sort:
I don’t care- but mostly give me wings for
My mind, so that it may fly over the carports
At feeding time
And see all the housewives bathing there:
Leaping over the aloe and the cenotaphs of
Conquistadors- Oh, it was the finest sort of
Wish- and if you didn’t believe me,
Then you cannot fathom my gift-
But I learned to fly like folded paper over those
Honeys- saw down their skirts
And counted their monies- until I was a cathedral
In my own sort of air- and if I ever came down again
I couldn’t care.