J. Kevin Wolfe, _One Strong Wing (for Christian)

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One Strong Wing (for Christian)
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If I had one strong wing
I could fly away
said the boy with the stolen face

Burned so bad
that death was a hope
his eyes were the only thing left beautiful
the only thing left human

All looked upon this tiny charred shell
and could not see a boy
Even his parents disavowed his once-life
now a vagueness of scars

If I had one strong wing I could fly away
I could feel the soft breeze
and not this confusion of sense
on what was once my face

Someone heard
the quiet wail
He still had no wing
but he flew 5000 miles
He flew to where surgeons
were sculptors of flesh
and potters of noses

Operation
operation
operation
etc.

They failed
to make his face a child's

But the cleverest magician
took two toes
and made two fingers appear
on the once of a hand

If I had one strong wing
I could lift a discarded life
and make it seem mine again

But I have two near-fingers
so I can feel anything again
anything
except my face

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J. Kevin Wolfe
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