POETRY: MANAHIL BANDUKWALA

​I WAKE WHEN THE BIRDS TELL ME THEY WANT TO DREAM 
 
 
i.
 
a form gathers sweat on every surface
skin touch feathers touch skin
 
pull wings apart
leave pile of quills
outside bedroom window
hot air blows around
 
 
ii.
 
it is springtime
 
animals come out
of hiding
 
 
iii.
 
i try
for lucidity through
sachets
of promised tea
aftermath of sex lies
in warm laundry piles
 
bird tells me not to worry
it sings a melody in my ear
just before i wake
 
i can’t help but listen
 
 
iv.
 
the bird is the first
to believe me when i say
i spun clouds into silkworms the night before
every house was a beacon lit up
 
beyond mesh
behind reflection
of candlelight in smokescreened
sky
 
 
v.
 
chlorophyll
can’t handle early dawn rays
 
 
vi.
 
i match the bird’s tune
with a wooden flute
it tells me please stop
 
some songs
are not mine to play

Manahil Bandukwala is a writer and visual artist. Her most recent project, Reth aur Reghistan, is a collaboration with her sister, Nimra, in which they research folklore from Pakistan and interpret it through poetry and sculpture. See more about the project at sculpturalstorytelling.com. She is the author of two chapbooks, Paper Doll  (Anstruther Press, 2019) and Pipe Rose  (battleaxe press, 2018). She was the 2019 winner of Room magazine's Emerging Writer Award, and was longlisted for the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize.