To the Exhausted Person Next to Me Who Deserves So Much More

Let me heal the wound left by the years
of rusty barbed wire they wound around your torso. 
That twisted corset as a backup for when your 
stomach muscles were too weak to hold it all in. 

I’ll tear at it with my teeth if I have to, making sure
not another tear escapes your eyes for them. 

You’re close to the other side, I promise. 
Over where the sun glitters in the treetops. 
We just need to kick, sprint, scream, 
crawl, and drag each other across 
that line before the gates close. 

Reach deep for the power hidden 
just below the buzzing weightlessness 
we can witness the magic, when we see it all 
live, in color, in the burst of citrus warmth. 

We’ll make sure everyone gets the chance to live.
Once you get there, you’ll know there’s no need to return. 
We’ll attack that gate, uproot the bars, bend them over 
our knees, live like there’s no one trying to keep us down.