Ripped Wings

Standing at the edge of paradise

Fairies kiss me

Bards playing hymns of goodbye

My steps light, my mind floating

somewhere, the cadence of the moment

gives wings to the soul, normally grounded

It professes 

promises 

before locked in chambers deep inside the heart

I wasn’t prepared at all, but

The clouds arrived. And

they took me away, I peered down 

the mortal world below

Traveling across mountains and seas

Watching as sceneries pass by

Time pass by

Memories play in my head

Why am I crying? Was there something

I didn’t say?

Long lines

Why are you here?

Examining eyes peer at me,

Nowhere to hide, naked. Maybe,

I shouldn’t be here?

Hungry, eyes searching for McDonald’s

Strangers, being lost and honking cars,

Bright lights from every direction

Somehow still, a dark canvas 

covers the sky, covers me,

my vision, my mind.

Hi, sir, is it possi-

Ignored, hostility once hidden

surface, no more hiding

Executive order to deport

International students involved

in the palestine protest

They don’t want us here

I know why the caged birds sing

They try to rip these wings bestowed 

upon us by the fairies from the place

we come, but they can’t, and they won’t

I will fly back home one day. But today,

I stay in this barren, foreign land

To break this cage and share these wings

Bestowed to me by the fairies from the place

I came to those who need it. Because,

the fairies would’ve done the same.