I am invisible

To them.

To everyone, it seems.

My father

(the king)

does not approve.

"What sort of prince cannot even be seen by his people?" he thunders.

He is the only one who can tell

Where I am.

I wonder how? I wonder why? Nobody else can.

I don't mind, though.

Mischief travels in my wake

(he doesn't approve of that, either)

But the people are none the wiser.

And the seer-birds sing

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel coming to the ground!"

But that is all they

Ever say.

We dismissed it

until

that

day.

That day when the light came to Earth.

That day --

it will never be forgotten.

I was walking, I recall

preparatory to mischief-making

When the light came.

She lay in the broken branches

that had broken her fall.

dirtied

bloodied

wings and all.

She breathed

And that was all I needed to know.

Snow-white feathers stained with ink.

And the seer-birds called

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel finally on the ground!"

I could see her

But

More importantly

She could see me.

"Help."

How?

Why?

HOW?

Like my father --

An angel with sight

An angel down

Maybe that's how.

Her eyes were open.

Again, "Help."

That was all she said.

What else could I do?

I carried her

Through the town

To the only place I could think

The Knower.

Ink-stained wings enfolded me

Oh, but she was weighty!

For a light who came to Earth

One would think otherwise.

The people

They looked on us

And did not see me.

"Come hither!" they cried.

"The angel, she is here!"

The Knower just smiled.

The Knower sees truth.

And the seer-birds cried

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel forfeiting her crown!"

She is awake now.

She sees me

And smiles.

I want to talk to the Knower.

I want to ask if I am seen.

But I know not how.

I leave.

My father asks after my distraction.

I am distracted?

Huh.

That must be why I can't focus.

The angel...

I can't stop thinking

about her.

The Knower has her now.

She is in good hands.

Yet

I wonder.

Why do I wonder?

For the seer-birds sing

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel leaving, leaving town!"

She's gone?

I must find her.

Invisibility is an asset

Though I do not openly advertise it

My feet have wings

I fancy them like hers

Ink stains and all

I arrive at the Knower's

Puffing

Panting

She is not there.

I half-expected it

But

It is still demoralizing.

I make my way back

Half-hoping she has returned to the forest

Where she fell.

She hasn't.

So I leave, again

Isn't my life so full of leaving?

Everywhere, everyone, everything

And the seer-birds wail

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel coming for you now!"

I pay no heed to them

They have no bearing on my actions

Those seer-birds

What do they even see?

Then a light tap

On my shoulder

I thought it might be a leaf on the wind

Yet

There she is

Resplendent with white light

Her wings no longer stained with inky sin

She flies just two feet

off the ground.

Her lips move.

Not quite cherry-red --

More like blood.

"Thank you," they say

I thank them back

And she leans down

Placing two fingers on my brow

Wishing me well.

And I am seen, I know not how.

She smiles once more

spreads her wings

Disappearing into the clouds

And the seer-birds whisper

"Angel down!"

"Angel down!"

"Angel, she has left the ground!"