flightless birds
Robecca Oet
1.
every time I cough the plane coughs with me
exhaust a little stronger little dirtier
seats and seats and seats chop the cabin
crooked like teeth, hungry like a mouth
with every person that gets on I get a little heavier
I can feel them all sitting in my gut
the older woman sitting to my left isn’t sleeping
I am watching her watch the sky
we are a bird in the sky, slow, but not vacant
I want us to be a flamingo
the plane hums and I hum along with it
the hum is not sleepy, the hum is alive
surrounded by sky, surrounded by people
we are lonely
2.
flamingos and pink shrimp and styrofoam peanuts
my eyes are screwed, and I am dreaming of pink
a mother has a green pillow around her neck and her baby is crying
the mother is also crying
my mother left me here, not forever, but the plane is shaking
I am shaking and the woman next to me says nothing
there is another plane on the opposite side of the world
we are digging parallel lines into the sky
3.
at home my brother tells me flamingos can’t fly
I lift my arms and beat them against the air
I stand there for hours flapping, eyes closed
I lift my legs one at a time
I point my toes and bend my knees
I pretend that I am flying