Traveler intruding on the jetsam of birds:
Let not pass the nest of days forgotten
To ruminate on wet sulfur memories.
The feather tucked in between pebble stones
And horned twigs hung by the digest of the day
Now vane-barren,
Was groomed till that due flight.
Be not fooled by unsavory shards of shell
As you know not the fates of yokes contained.
Nor trouble the prints,
Lest birds set foot again.
Still, yet not forsaken, the elder’s home
Anticipating its pairing progeny.
Suns of yesteryears have bleached the remains
In resin pose of prayer to Pisthetaerus.

[The poem was first published on Mohammad’s Sharaf’s book, After the End, which can be found on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210769432-after-the-end; and my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6400133403.]

Surra,
January, 2024.