Dangerous Bird
She wanted grace.
she wanted to feel her limbs
lightweight
to know flight without wings
where light was dim
& bass louder than bodies
hitting ground.
she once saw her body
hitting ground
purposefully, carefully
planned
& projected
from a height that would
hammer, crushing bones skin
intestines — parts
of him.
She wanted grace.
she saw girls orbiting the pole
defiant
bodies marked with ink
pliant & poised.
They flew high above hims,
self-raised flags.
A woman taught her to climb,
trusting, she thrust
herself high the way
she’d fly into arms when
young,
her mother’s arms
which showed her all
the ways she could hurt.
she slid
like some thing
swallowed by accident
hitting ground
purposefully, carefully
planned
& projected
just not by her —
She, who wanted grace.
Born to Bosnian and Chinese Malaysian parents, Nejra Ćehić is a British poet whose work has appeared in ASP Literary Journal, three anthologies and is forthcoming in SMOKE magazine. She is working on her first full-length collection of poetry.
Note: ‘Dangerous Bird’ is the name of an advanced pole dance move