Six of Swords (Reversed)

bones
by Jameson Alea

i have eaten the dust of my own bones,
  traversed the turbulent waters of being
    a boy lost in the fog of her own confusion,
      a newspaper correction notice,
        a medical oddity;
i have slipped through an IV drip and woken up screaming

i have brandished my swords only at myself,
  re-written my past with a wildean flair,
    seen my future with the help of a wing’d god
      and the waters roil there but my boat is still;
        my river is realer to me than the world is
and i would rather be real than safe

i have kept only the pieces of me made of air,
  chafed at a life confined to the cards i had been given,
    embraced the act of rebellion of my whole existence,
      guided myself down the river Styx
        and now that i’m finished, i will watch over you
as you grind your own bones into dust

Jameson Alea (they/he) is an adventurer from Buffalo, NY who wishes they were immortal so they’d have time to visit every coffee shop in the world.