mangoes & magpies
like a ladybird in the amazon rainforest
like the lies from friends who are usually honest
like the sound of a skipping rope hitting my pocket
or the skip in your step when you over-pronounce phonetics
like the warmth in every yes
chlorine haze
drifting your dreary gaze
my magpie had flown from the nest and so has the joy
two more left and i lost my only boy
brandy breath and liquor lips
water vapour dripping from your highlighted tips
like when you wave to someone and they don’t wave back
or like when you say i love you and they reciprocate with ew you’re fat
Like how you used to smile with all your teeth
didn’t know that was the last time that we’d meet
like how i didn’t feel like crying when she died
but how i felt as if i ought instead to trade my life
like a coconut they say
brown on the outside
“white” on the inside
arms stuck in play dough
how did i not know
that the magpie came back
and so did the sorrow
- Ashrita Kalia