In Egypt
the myth of the phoenix
was a story about a stork
which makes sense
if you know anything about ashes
that grey lightness
at the end of bones
or buildings
so much colour and heft
reduced to soot
and then the beak opens
like a pair of scissors
slicing off the past
and a baby lands
in the rubble
with a voice
in his belly
saying
I am new
I am next.