Aorta
I will give myself to the sea
to the sunset
to the stars
I want to be unravelled by something greater than two hands
cracked apart at the ribs
in feast
a hollow empire no longer
filled with cloudless sky
venom dripping from my ears
“Eat” he hisses holding
a ventricle to my lips
bloody and raw
my own; still warm
pouring rain
He takes a bite
tearing chunks with glittering pillars of jagged salt licks
this is how it is done
how you get a dying bird to eat
or freeze in the night
ribs a ladder exposed that my body
might cower beneath
leaking blue blue sky
mouth agape
puffing clouds into the darkness for him to drink
the bird with no wings
choking on aorta
a sacrifice to the stars.
ABOUL ABASS Translations 