Ripe Feathers

by Ahmed Zaid

Having sunk below sea level,
drowned to become sanity-free,
having cried for no apparent reasons,
having forgiven my father and my blue self,
having stirred anger in beauty for solutions, having taken the stairs
back up, having welcomed fresh human grounds, having witnessed watchful-eyes panic
and listened to their tremored hearsay, having felt deserts form within my stomach, having
felt ancient wisdom erupt at the back corner of my mouth, having chewed with it, having loved
and loved, having chosen to love again, having tasted shame on lips, having seen beauty
in violet shadowing eyes, having undressed irises, having been evicted from pupils,
having believed my mother, having lied to truthifize, having invented words,
having decorated my chest with feelings, having waited for the Thought,
having stared down the skies, having seen clocks smirk, having
asked, does time have heart? having questioned my
limbs, having stopped questioning its motion:

I bird into life whirling through cage’s sky.