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Some Feathers that Aren’t Mine
I was a bird
fallen out of blue sky oceans.
A rock skipping across still water
splashes in the sky
would wet my skin

Now, a wind sings through my hollow bones
sweet music indeed for human ears
penance because I have no lips or teeth.
Oh, how I wish I could return your smile.

Instead, share my waking dream
understand me, understand me, understand me
hold me in arms that can know me,
or try

How could you know what it’s like to be a bird’s mind?
I myself have forgotten
bring me a jewel
or a reflecting pool
allow me to remember

See cold starlight.
See gray waves crashing against gray shores.
See a glacial ice fall.
Graft their plenary indifference with clumsy stitches

Oh, it was always hopeless.
How could I remember?
These memories were never mine
I stole them in fleeting envies.
I am not a bird.

It freezes me so cold
My feathers have frost on the tips
I am a bird, after all.
Don’t look at me.
Ruiyang Guo
Published in Issue 42