How brave he is when he has nothing to lose.
Puffed chest and clenched fists,
dreaming up fresh scars on his knuckles.
Frontline fighter to no cause,
both eyes blind to the bleeding horizon.
He hides every night lest his fear turns him into a target,
lest someone notices the hollow where others hold the weight of a spine.
A lifetime of flexing muscles could not grow him a backbone.
So he bends and folds with the breeze,
allowing the wind to whistle him empty.
A crooked flute song trapped in his sternum
loud enough to mute the war cries outside.
This is how he passes time during the war.
Dreaming himself unsung hero,
shadowboxing with the void in his spine.
He starts his mornings
by whistling his song
and washing his hands
in the blood of a silenced new day.
Puffed chest and clenched fists,
dreaming up fresh scars on his knuckles.
Frontline fighter to no cause,
both eyes blind to the bleeding horizon.
He hides every night lest his fear turns him into a target,
lest someone notices the hollow where others hold the weight of a spine.
A lifetime of flexing muscles could not grow him a backbone.
So he bends and folds with the breeze,
allowing the wind to whistle him empty.
A crooked flute song trapped in his sternum
loud enough to mute the war cries outside.
This is how he passes time during the war.
Dreaming himself unsung hero,
shadowboxing with the void in his spine.
He starts his mornings
by whistling his song
and washing his hands
in the blood of a silenced new day.
About the Poet
Dshamilja Roshani (they/them) is a Berlin-born poet, writer and performer of German-Iranian descent who is based in Johannesburg. They hold a BA Honours in Creative Writing from Wits University and currently teach young South African poets through the Word N Sound Academy programme.
Selected work- https://linktr.ee/dshamilja
Social Media
Instagram: @dshamilja.r
YouTube: @dshamilja
Spotify/Apple Music: Dshamilja Roshani
Facebook: @dshamilja.roshani
TikTok: @dshamilja.r
X: @dshamiljar