a taxi driver tells me

the warehouse where he sleeps

smells of doughnut fried with olive oil

his wife gave him a grey blanket

and a broken mirror

from where he sees every passenger   as a gerenuk

this is how i know it isn’t a dream     my shadows

are a reflection of germander               from a pool

he says the best gift he sends home    is fire extinguisher

we have this in common         no one believes we should lead

the prayers in a borrowed tongue

we say ka when we meant kha from the epiglottis

everything has it edges, the edges of the earth are buried in water

i tell him square is the shape of freedom

but the driver  thinks it’s a circle       and it depends

on how far you are from the center

i followed him to the space where he lives

i saw    how the sky

blankets the moon light           when the sun is up

his children make cotton candy off their mother’s gown.

HUSSAIN AHMED