Smoke Signals

Poem by Rocco Valentini

Artwork Sourced from Pinterest. Artist: Unknown.

Smoke Signals

by Antonio Rocco Stea (Rocco Valentini)

I am the Icarus who flew too close to her Mohegan sun
She put out the fiery wreck of my wings with her moccasins
Her heart was a dreamcatcher, never to be won,
Yet it was her company I once found solace in.

She told me she wanted to test the waters
Then left me paddling my canoe upriver.
So I sought the chief’s other daughters
I was tired of loving an Indian giver.

I found a new canary who actually sings;
We read each other's smoke signals—
The ones left by our burned wings
Whose charred remains still made us wriggle.

I rebuilt myself with feathers from her headdress
And within our teepee we became one in flesh.