once a golden eagle

I soared with wings tinted in bronze

hovered over the stones stacked one
on top of the other by those who thought
they could touch the sky and pray to
Quetzalcoatl from atop in Tenochtitlan

I tilt my gold crown head to look down upon

the tops of a CalpuIli crowns made from feathers
fallen from my wares for they also wished to
mimic me when they climbed their pyramids
to sacrifice their own

they did not know they would never fly

composed from the dirt they walked upon
and bones made of trees and stones
they were made to watch the earth
and watch o’er those without wings

some of us were made to fly and

some were made to traverse the ground
and look up to admire wing feathers glide
amidst the winds and make nests on mountain tops
this imparted upon them a will to wish and dream
thinking someday they too will touch the sky

in another life I will be like them

and walk the earth with arms and legs
but until then I shall wrap myself
in shawls of hovering clouds and squeal
my song through beak'n lips appreciate
in this life of why I was made to fly