Homewrecker (after Kaveh Akbar)

Aren’t we all the birds living in my neighbor’s dryer vent every morning I deliver worms to hungry gaping mouths opening like spring flowers sputtering chirping as birds do aren’t we all hungrier when we wake up after sunrise with nothing left but the ground beneath us a promise an open door the illusion of flight and a half-forgotten melody no one is listening no one is listening i traded my ears for freedom even now i don’t know what for Aren’t we all someone’s late night phone call and every word said the last and never really ours to begin with you i had less questions Aren’t we all just people masquerading as answers and keys to locked doors or are we the doors i know this used to mean something but why do we hang on to sinking ships cut our hands on broken glass blood isn’t a symbol Aren’t we all a little kid in ratty sneakers or braids or baseball caps worried about the birds watching them from the window living in a dryer vent telling our parents telling someone above us telling the trees and the stars and some of them may even listen to the wind to bird calls and promises and lies vents are no place for baby birds i’m lost without you and something that smells like laughter looks like home Aren’t we all the mama bird trying to find her way home Aren’t we all the reason she can’t come home