Bodega | Before your body must fly

you must first know about the grief

which drowns the voices of birds.

the way a boy carries home

in his mouth

as river of broken bodies.

how man is often made to believe

what will punctuate his bones with joy

& not the consonants of his pain.

like lost birds, i can see how much

you yearn for home.

your hands trying not

to hold the night

because the last time you did

silence got hold of your voice

while darkness thirsted for the light

inside your skin.

you thought of running

but there is no safe place

to run to in this country.

not even the mouth of your father

where you got to know of hate,

how memories are ashes of the body

that once wrecked in fire.

Before your body must fly