If My Father Throws Me Up In the Air

If I talk to clouds
     run too fast
     look up through the trees

If my father throws me up in the air
If I leap backward into a crevice

If I climb the knoll
     lean forward, spread my arms

If air, like saltwater, buoys me up
If my father throws me up in the air

If you say you love me
If I drink the potion
If a raven’s wing brushes my ear

If the horizon’s too pink
If I forsake this dirt

If my father throws me up in the air
If I lose my blood
If the wind blows all day

If you shout, if I fall from the wall
     let go the knot
     jump from the train
     dive from the springboard

If starlings turn in the evening sky
If the soprano holds a high note

If my father throws me up in the air
     I can fly