King Shezzar's Dream
They prostrate before the idol of a brass turkey
Whose wings encase the city like an egg.
Origami chieftains sway on their litters
Carried by hunchbacked children
Serving wine soaked Dodo meat crawling with ants.
Gaze narrows at the crumbling multicoloured ziggurats
Where the accused are castrated and boiled by yellow inquisitors
Exhaling the perfume of the dead.
When the drums were beaten and the tablets were dashed to the sea
And the shamans orgasmed to their graves
As kings ran in circles painting faces with mud
In the slowly slanting palaces that plumed arbitrary dust.
A thousand languages that none could speak
Flying camels yet none could move
As astrolabes cast upwards to imprison the sun
And the sea cows beached on Carthaginian shores
And the aurochs plowed alone.
The screams would keep them awake a thousand years
And they would not know sanity.
It is then a king will walk with the feet of a calf
And knowledge itself would be cut in half
Bearing seven hands and seven wings
And seven faces known as the nation’s son
When the time is completed
And the deed is done
Ameer Azad is our current Poet-in-Residence. Every now and then we find a voice that sings (or screams) to us. Those voices that show us something new - whether beautiful or repulsive - voices from out there that somehow resonate deeply. Voices we just 'get'. When that happens we graciously ask that they join us for a time. To live and scream along with us.
You can learn more about Ameer, his work and voice in his fantastic interview here.
We also invite you to follow Ameer on Instagram by hitting the button below.
We're constantly on the look out for new artists, creatives and initiatives to feature in TheNeverZine - so if you are, or know someone who is going their own way and doing their own thing on their own terms and would be a good fit to feature please smash that button below and get in contact. By talking to each other, and sharing our journeys, ideas and insights on creativity, art, mental health and resilience we can all create, share and thrive together. Nice thought that.
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