The Unbraided Mane Poem by fraidoon warasta

(for the last white rhino)

to live life
i die
to live life
i die every day
i die every day
voluntarily

last night
i died
i died again
last night
when the sky of africa was red
and the stars black
like a bleeding watermelon
i died
with the last white rhino

you cannot braid
a lion's mane
you cannot pick
the flower-spots of a jaguar
you can behead all trees
of the amazon rain forest
but you cannot suffocate
its spirit
maybe you can buy the entire world
but you cannot possess the air

to live life
i die
i die every day

in search of myself
my gaze flies over a steep slope
deep forests and thirsty beaches
but i fail to find
i am entangled and twisted
in the roots of pine and poplar trees
i can hear their prayers and lamentations
i am streaming alongside all dry seasons
and breathing with all seas
drowned in plastic
in moon i swim
in sun in i bathe

to live life
i die
i die every day
to live life
(die before you die!)

fraidoon warasta
october 2018
amsterdam