Raffi's Wings

You have wings to take you soaring
You have had wings all your life
Everyone saw them on you
They shone in your smile
In your laugh
A bright, vibrant

Those wings have been waiting for you
To take you softly
Gently
To your home

None of us, not even your wings,
Expected you to travel so soon
They tripped over themselves
Brushed our faces

As they came to sweep you up
You are safe in them
As we sit here in the rain
Silently listening for your wingbeats
You are held, peaceful, safe

Love ties you
So close

You will send wings to your daughter
Your husband
So they can hold your travel a little more lightly
So they can hold each other
So your wings can be wind instruments
In their grief

The wings you send them reminding them gently
That you are safe
You are held
You are precious, beautiful, loved
Your wings will be around them always
That when it is time you will meet them to
Help them travel safely,
Your wings grow from heaven to earth
To hold us gently
To let you sing softly, as you are loved, celebrated

As our hearts grieve knowing you are held
In God’s wings
Nestled in those spaces
Where we are never alone
Where we are never apart.

Needle and knife

I might fall apart today
As I choose between
The bright of the knife
And the bright of the needle

The knife knows how to open
To dig
Carve out worms and rotten flesh

It knows how to placate me too,
Sings me a song of work to do
When it and I have learnt to
Survive on my blood

It sits on my belt
Satisfied that even though
I never sharpen it
I will always weaken back into it

The needle knows how to close
To sew shut and let heal what
The knife has opened

When the knife has cut out the worms
In the wounds that won't grew trees
The needle sighs gentle stitches
That only sting a little
That sing, rather, old marching songs,
Lullabies, composed just for me

Last night I chose the knife
Today I choose the needle
Touching my tongue to the sun
I thread the needle with light

I will sew up the places I opened
Sew closed the places that hurt
Unpick the the stitches locking me in

Bright stitches will mark my journey
To the bright of the needle
From the bright of the knife