Still Life of Milkweed or Bird

After the photograph "Flight" by Karen Elias

Inside, once
you were a wisp
of flight,

seeds weathered
to air, a delicately
tied fly flung

across currents
of stream
far above

the rippling
dreams of trout.
Or maybe

a dragonfly escaped
from a web,
triumphant

silk exploding
into freedom
long before

the now of all
you gave away
to become

this empty
and brittle surprise
of beauty,

brown husk of a wing
tipped up, speckled
bird reminder

of chirp, of everything
still willing
to soar.