Sunbird

By Fady Joudah

I flit
from gleaming river
to glistening sea,

from all that we
to all that me,

fresh east to salty west,
southern sweet,

and northern free
there is a lake

between us,
and aquifers
for cactus

and basins
of anemone
from the river
to the sea,

from womb
to breath and one
with oneness

I be,
from the river
to the sea.

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Fady Joudah is a poet for our times & all. He is the author of five collections; most recently, Tethered to Stars. He has translated several collections of poetry from Arabic and is the co-editor and co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize.

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