Distant Relations

I am fading tonight; pale
with only the slightest outline
sketched on my sheets,
hands tucked under my head
and breathing deeply.

My breath resonates
in a frequency
that only birds
the color of cardinals
can hear.

These bloodlines,
warriors,
are cousins
and distant relations
to the sounds of music
with no place else to go
but up.

Clouds and stars,
and sometimes a falling maple leaf,
can see beauty in all that red
and the incredible flashing
of clarity against the
cool exhalations
of snow when winter
inevitably arrives
just before we expect
seasonal gratitude.