If you ever lose heart and the earth seems as distant as stars fading into the noise of your busy mind, know this. That a tiny island exists in the blue hands of the ocean. That a tree grows upright into the salted clouds. That two eagles love each other enough to spend their lives greeting the morning sun together. That two eaglets stand in their nest, gazing at the heavens. Looking down to the forever ground. They eat and sleep and flap their wings. And one day in July, one by one, they will jump into the air. They will know the difference between existing and what is beyond. They will hold onto nothing. The hurricane will come, courage catching their pinions on fire, as they mount the wind, climbing ladders into realms of the invisible.


--T.L. Stokes






Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I have always loved you




I have loved you from before the time
I met you,

I dreamt of you as light striking sky,
as wing-true-beat,
wisdom in flight,

and I dreamed again before I knew you
as my heart, hot bowl of my chest
grew warmer,

as you were drawn to me,
and I to you.

I have loved you more than my own flight,
my own freedom,
my own sky.

I have loved you more than the wind,
the stars,
the night.

I have loved you deeply
in my arms
through the day, the night,
the sky.

Our bright promise of youth
hatched and fledged
year after glorious year.

I still feel your warm body
next to mine,
listening to the crackling song.

My gifts, strewn across forever,
for you, my love.
Yes, I have loved you

and always will love you
my dear.




for father eagle of Norfolk
for his family
and for the final flight of his mate

c2011 T.L.Stokes (all rights reserved)
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