The Chest in My Heart

By Kian Zehtabian

My dedication to my dear mother who raised me as a strong leaf under hurricanes crushing her.

One night I sensed a void
In the box I carry in my chest
From January till December
And from season of all being reborn
Till the time nature builds a castle of frost.

I used to sense a harmony 
Of young caged birds singing hope
To fly once again in skies 
Before their wings forever unifies with ground.
Thus I pierced my hand in my chest
Whilst only fog covering the realm inside
And blankness seemed to fill the void
And endless lands touching my naked hand
Unseen in fog like snakes cloaked there
Surviving glance of hawks
Grasped I the note left there by you.

“I do not reside here anymore”
your lines dropped there, an epiphany to me
of all our sharing moments once upon a time
in this mirage in my deserted mind.
Now void was not in my heart 
But enfolded me all.