Ouyang Jianghe

T

The Burning Kite

What a thing it would be, if we all could fly.
But to rise on air does not make you a bird.

I’ m sick of the hiss of champagne bubbles.
It’ s spring, and everyone’ s got something to puke.

The things we puke: flights of stairs,
a skyscraper soaring from the gut,

the bills blow by on the April breeze
followed by flurries of razor blades in May.

It’ s true, a free life is made of words.
You can crumple it, toss it in the trash,

or fold it between the bodies of angels, attaining
a permanent address in the sky.