Tonight, birds flock to me like shooting stars
carrying dreams I’ve forsaken under their wings.
The ravens conspire, whispering of a daring plan
to steal the moon, my sole companion these lonesome nights.
The owls parley, offering a shard of sun as ransom,
straight-shooting as rooks on my wooden chessboard.
The crows murder the fates, forcing me to trace new trails,
decades of old wingbeats forgotten like ripples on a pond.
Tonight, a starling murmurs alone.
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Ian Li (he/him) is a Chinese-Canadian economist, developer, writer, and poet, who started writing in late 2023 after a lifetime of believing he could never be creative. He also enjoys spreadsheets, statistical curiosities, and brain teasers. Find his work published in Strange Horizons, Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, the Toronto subway system, and many other venues. He is also a poetry editor at Orion’s Belt. Learn more at ian.li.com. |