Artist, Tadáskía: mystical black bird
by Tadáskía
I dedicate it to black sisters and black brothers
de fora
to black women and black trans people
to people who care about children
and to people who are equally children at heart
in the dream I meet all the mystical birds
of other worlds
together
at the same time
we’re black old and young
we were born every night
and at dawn
according to our drawing
which extends and modifies itself
we spread out
and the water splashes our body
we are ready
towards a journey
of freedom
our arc of sense
forming
the horizon line
I closed my eyes
made a happy wish
my mind was silent
from the Mystical Black Birds family
we are also known as
the Enchanted Hens
inspired by Sankofa
friends of the magic
we look to see if our sisters, the black ones,
are trapped or flying
in our prayers
we adorn
of colors and sparkles
our beaks harvest delights
and by the grace of the nights
they kiss the stars
cosmic malleable force
within us
will there be anyone who recognizes us?
slipping in the mountains
stained with pigments
colorful
many clouds and lands pass through my feathers
I’m a ballerina, I’m an enchanted powder
there’s no reason to get stuck here or there
there’s no reason to hold me anywhere
I spin I spin on a party day I spin
free black
mystical
I carry my colored necklace and my mirror
cowries, feathers, paws
saints, witches, fairies
from the divine plane
we walk on the earthly plane
gorgeous in our shifting garments
plan yes plan no
my beak is a flower
no fear
my plumages shivered
I hand over me to the change
day yes day yes
insights in my flights, I sleep and wake up;
from the darkness
multiform
sparks guide me
modulating the flight lines
my beak is an adventurer
crooked, spaced colors, being born
—our winged transformation—,
I know when I’m not on the right lines
I admit the constituent error of every flight:
I redraw the routes of my sensitivity over again