The Ash Manifesto

Poetry

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The Ash Manifesto

R.B. Lemberg

Issue: 10 October 2016

Content warning:

I am the healer of clouds, jeweler to the wide rebellious sky,
Nobody cows me except myself;
I made my smallness, hid among the grains of sand,
and walked the roads in flaking ash.
I made the fear of death my fear,
the power that arises from the ash
the conquering flame reborn from quietude:
I cowed myself into my own submission,
I sprang myself into my own domain.
I'll walk the sun my labyrinth,
demand no recompense for past misdeeds,
confess to no regret but need,
its paths to burn along my symmetry.
I'll make such pain as to reveal your hue,
I'll make such splendor feathered in my triumph
to comfort with unfolding majesty
the ancient storms awoke from aeons' slumber,
adorned in all the wide rebellious sky.

About R.B. Lemberg

R.B. Lemberg (they/them) is a queer, bigender immigrant originally from L’viv, Ukraine. R.B.’s work set in their fantastical Birdverse has been a finalist for the Nebula, Ignyte, World Fantasy, Locus, Crawford, and other awards. R.B.’s Birdverse collection Geometries of Belonging is currently shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. You can find R.B. on Instagram and Bluesky, on Patreon, and at rblemberg.net.

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