an ode to my feathered friends

by karo ska from “ loving my salt-drenched bones ”

What is it about birds

that makes me feel like I can fly too?

their wings

eat the sky,

their beaks nibble on clouds, they swallow

trees with their songs, their talons

imbibe omens for the sharp swelling

of freedom. what is it about birds

that makes me feel

like I can fly too?

they consume thousands

of blue miles under

their feathers & never look back. they gnaw

waves with their webbed feet,

let the current do the rest.

About The Author

Karo Ska (they/them) is a South Asian & Eastern European non-binary poet, living on unceded Tongva Land. They migrated here in 1996 from Warsaw, Poland. Some of their other work resides in Dryland Lit, Resurrection Magazine, Sobotka Literary Journal, Cultural Daily, Ayaskala Magazine, and Marías at Sampaguitas. Their first fulllength collection, loving my salt-drenched bones was released on February 23rd, 2022. For updates, follow them on Instagram @karoo_skaa or check out their website karoska.com.

We don’t overcome trauma. We learn to live with how it shaped us.

In loving my salt-drenched bones, karo ska, a bi-racial survivor of child sexual abuse, is not afraid to tackle the topics we rarely talk about — anxiety, depression, suicide, racism, grief. Ska invites us to swim through the tumultuous rivers of healing and asks that we fall in love with our vulnerabilities. Through striking images and poignant metaphors, ska shows us the power of being our true, authentic selves.