Phoenix Rising

The concupiscence gone

you don’t remember how to talk

to me or why you should,

having gathered enough of my nectar

to take back to your hive

and barren queen, you buzz

away. Air filled with electricity

becomes static and empty,

the shadows of the wheeling hawks

free falling through nothing,

landing flat on the ground,

Wing-shaped darkness

flying over grass and roots

without stumbling, the glide

never interrupted until

prey is sighted, then the plunge,

the nosedive, laser-focused,

talons curling into vulnerable flesh

that will be tenderized on impact,

dropped like me, lying on the

unforgiving earth, waiting

to be devoured.

But I rise, spread my wings,

and fly into my own hunt.