how lucky some birds must be to fly at whim –
i, though eager to fly to him
must gather more than my limbs to go:
cash, pages, stamps,
must hoist luggage onto ramps
& have more to tell the immigration officer than
“please sir, this longing will kill me”
do they know how lucky they are –
the birds i mean –
the sky their blue passports
o – pen
like my palms when i believed my words would take me to my lover’s arms
i, caged bird
i, wingless
third world bird
pecking aimlessly at grass,
my green passport
to greener pastures,
grass nonetheless
i, the early bird
in search of a winged worm
what use are these eyes
if they do not see tomorrow?
what use are these eyes
besides probing the sky,
exposing how lucky
some birds are to fly.
Nkateko Masinga is a poet and 2019 Fellow at the Ebedi International Writers Residency.
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Amazing!