hello hello poor goats it’s me zarif
speaking sunflowers are sweating
on the grass like us my veins
are soaking the shade drizzled
at your ribbon-wrapped feet
whose bouquets are you holding?
hello hello orange eagle are you
sleeping or just feeling a little green
like seaweed sobbing if it’s true
that the world is over and we
are the only animals left
I’ll let you share my pillow of silver
mushrooms tiptoeing backwards
we can suffer in gowns of air
like trees or invisible red guitars
don’t you know what will happen
to our lives an inch of noise above
rain lemon-colored wraiths will
come to clean your nest oh you poor
poor goats your heads together
like a blade frowning & green
A. R. Zarif is from Chicago. He holds an MFA from Brown University. His published work can be found at www.arzarif.com.