Envisioning A Clay Dove That Takes Flight

I was given a miniature clay dove

to be my guardian the day

living with bipolar disorder

became my reality.

 

I placed her on my bedroom windowsill

as a reminder that there can still be peace

despite my struggles that ebbed and flowed

like waves crashing on a shoreline.

 

She rested in the same spot for a decade

though every morning I’d check on her

because I longed for her to take flight.

 

(I would dust her off with a tiny scrap

of a black and white dish towel.)

 

She became more than my guardian

in fact, she manifested my hopes and dreams—

I too wanted to soar.

 

Her motionless presence filled up

my bedroom though this fine morning

she was no longer there.

 

It was as if she came to life,

and snuck out my cracked window

without a sound during

that hot summer evening,

and took flight under the bright stars.

 

At first I was heartbroken at this loss.

 

Yet I became conscious of my inner strength,

and that what is constant is change.

 

When she took flight I realized

my hopes and my dreams

have soared too alongside her,

and as of today have come true.

 

-Sophia Falco

Sophia Falco is the author of her debut poetry chapbook: The Immortal Sunflower which was a winner of The Raw Art Review chapbook contest. The tallest sunflower she grew was 16 feet tall! Sophia studies intensive literature with a creative writing concentration for poetry at UCSC, and will graduate as an undergraduate senior June 2020. https://www.instagram.com/poetsophiafalco1/