When I was six
I knew I did not belong
Because only animals could sense
The shroud of discomfort
That followed me wherever I went
When I was nine
I walked away from my house
And let my feet do the thinking
But only the sun knew of how my shadow cowered into the earth
Almost as if to say...right here
I never understood
If it meant here beneath the mud
Or here on earth, everywhere on this layer
But it felt like both
Like the mud could swallow me whole and it would feel like a hug
That it too could provide comfort
It told me how the thing I didn't know I was looking for
Would be found in the open
But since then I've always found shelter under the naked sky
Like it could conceal me and free me at the same time