Parable for Refugees
by Ladan Osman

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seventeen common flies:
clustered: hallway: days:
they no longer fly through
the screen when ushered:
weak: to: from: light: real:
artificial: did they forget
the sun: fly toward faces:
some dead on a sill:
some walk: did they forget
how to fly: why don’t they
go: one paces on a step: do
they wait for a shoe:
it averts them: goes: why die:
still: is it madness: the ones
who wait:

"Parable for Refugees" by Ladan Osman, from EXILES OF EDEN by Ladan Osman, copyright © 2019 Coffee House Press. Used by permission of Coffee House Press.