Half Gift

I will give you a gift.
A half-gift.
It is an old and ancient gift
(they are the only kind I have)
The kind of gift that is also a curse.
The kind of gift that is a curse first,
a curse worst,
a gift at last, and only sometimes.

Flight and freedom and fancy.
You will go wherever you please.
You will always be able to flee,

You can leave anything behind,
push anything and anyone away,
those who want to stay will lose their will,
always. every single time.
you will push their feet – no,
no, more powerful magic:
you will shift the earth, tilt her
axis just so, until their feet tip just so
they lose their

balance. measure. time.
You can always sever any tie that binds.
Undo any knot. Untwist any thread.

I give you simplicity.
The straight line to the
truth of things and
the end of things.

Your “goodbyes” will draw
magic lines in the sand not even hermits,
dare cross (not even you can cross).
Lines that move the earth – yes,
your words will be ocean currents on land,
and through air.

Your “I gotta go”, will be an invisibility cloak, thrown
over even your footsteps, invisible now in winter snow.
Untraceable. Untrackable. Unknowable.

I give you the ultimate disappearing act.

Your “leave me”, whispered and gentle, will be
cyclone, storm, whirlwind picking up lovers and friends
out of your bedroom,  out of your house, out of your life; yes,
they will fall somewhere miles away, a new land, no better
and also no worse, and they will  never find their way back to you;
your magic will rewrite every map to your house, rewire their telephone
contacts;  they will lose you before they ever found you.
They will sometimes want to try

you might even want them to, but it won’t matter and if they do
because your tongue is made of a scorpion’s tail
your voice is a thousand falcons screeching
your tears are acid rain
you are a goddess and a bitch and a crazy woman, like it or not, you
had better learn to love it  –

So if they do

They will rarely find the will

(and if they do)

They will always fail.

You will never be found.

This is your gift.
A half-gift.
It is an old and ancient gift
(they are the only kind I have)
The kind of gift that is also a curse.
The kind of gift that is a curse first,
a curse worst,
a gift at last.
At last,
At the very very end of things.