intruder

why, why, why?
I ask because they will.
only 55 minutes at 37,000 ft
and only briefly does my angelic human
form touchdown.

not for a fear, oh no.
each day I wake with less of those.

I cry here, secretly,
without allowing normally unstrained
tears from their cages.

I don’t want pain
for those who are good.
my punishing is in watching their suffering.

that’s why. as if a
documentarian following a
dying elephant calf,
I put down the megaphone
(they can’t hear me from the ivory tower)
and lift them up.
that’s why.