the prospect of starvation makes them fly/the empty seats

Illustration by Pattpiha.

migrating birds swarm overhead
the prospect of starvation makes them fly
drifting like guests at a wedding 

this act of survival
has never needed an audience
so i have decided to kiss my friends on the scalp
right where their hair parts

if my country
had been a different one
i might have been born in it
and i was born in my country
only it was a different one

last week
when all the young people
doubled over and died
the cawing kept me up all night

how to name the hunger that is terrible enough
to drag you southward through the sludge
how to confess your love 

over the sound of the world being carved
or leave behind a golden ring
with a ruby hanging from it like a tear

momon used to wear it every day back home
or not home but somewhere so close
it makes the word boil like a sheep's head

remember to wipe off the lipstick stains
to bare the intricate mechanisms of your wings
high above the empty seats ◆

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Bita is a 24-year-old Iranian-German and has recently graduated with a B.A. in Digital Media. Their unhealthy obsessions include their friends, daydreaming, and consuming as many animated shows as possible. You can find them on Twitter/Instagram under @bitaswriting.