What will it do to swallow the night when the heart of a bird will carry you? Fluttering, leaning against the sky, drumming against your chest and reaching for a rope. Searching for an oasis like Hajar. These eyes are weary. But the water always flows. Hands calloused-breaking and breaking is a rough enterprise. All you have been through-I see you. Gazelle eyes, blinking under the shade of a Lote tree, the same wisdom you seek to fall upon you is within you. Next time hold back before you curse the dust, the future lies in the rubble – this is how God works. Silence ensues in the stillness of the amphitheater, the curtains part, this is your act. Spotlights blink on against a Saharan night. This time uproot the antennae coiling longer than your body, tissue skin is reaching to refract the light, words which knew their decree before you tumble from your mouth. All the while inside you, the heart is migrating skyward. Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu is a poet and writer based in London. She …