Crow

how shall i put this? i am standing on a yellow brick road but i am a crow. moody, attracted to shiny things. i cannot see the trees for the forest, nor in the forest will you always find me.

they ask me about my interests and assume about them, i am passionate, but i am a crow. i am attracted to shiny things, and it is never that easy. the road is yellow, like the afternoon sun. it glimmers, and i commit to it. in the glare of the heat, i am midnight gleaming, and i convince you that to follow this road is my destiny.

each sunset, the road dims. i tell you, i tell myself, it is meant for me, but i am a crow. i like shiny things. and when the road is for a moment hazy in twilight pixels, i blink and i can see fireflies golden, like stars filling the night sky, and i set off like i have never before, to be overwhelmed by beauty. i ask why i should wait for the road to reappear in all its glory, to walk it because it is steady? they dangle a golden watch before my eyes. they let it tick, and they swing it, steady i am but a crow. i understand money, and i suppose even in youth, i understand time.

they ask me about my passions, so i put gold in my teeth and through them, i lie.

| Kanwal Ahmad