The Cage
I never noticed -
the smiling
the flutter of wing
the cackle
the chorus
the songs we sing
the eyes how they shine,
and the body, oh so sure,
I never noticed -
until they plucked me away,
when I saw the bars fill in the haze,
was when I realized,
we were in a cage,
how long have I been happy there?
How long since I’ve flown?
The others, their songs reverberating so sweetly off the walls,
make me wish I wasn’t alone.
Fledgling
It hurts - the process of pushing past the rawness of nerves, hurts,
but think of how that hurt will heal the old hurt - the one that kept on coming undone in your mind, screaming out that you were worthless with its chapped lips and its blind eyes,
you haven’t thought of that hurt in a while, you haven’t thought about that until I just said it. So listen again, hurt - hurts, that is a fact,
how can you not want to move away from the same impact?
The process of pushing past the rawness - it comes with a price,
for the betterment of your soul and the clearness of your mind,
never think about that hurt twice.
A Narrative from a Canadian Geese Migration Disintegrating
I must hurry, the distance is growing,
if I don’t catch them, I will lose them forever.
Our formation is coming apart at the seams.
From a V to a I to a … to just me.
My wings are so sore from churning, burning, worrying,
but I must, they are slipping away in the sunlight,
just . . .. .
slipping though ellipses of dusk and night.
What will I be without them at my side?
We were happy weren’t we?
Victorious
Indestructible,
We.
….
I guess… I guess I must keep going South as I should,
and if I find them again there - maybe I will finally understand.
Vulture
I am a vulture,
a virtuous thing assigned to consume any decay to avoid sickness,
including the festering virus that is self-consciousness
in just blooming minds.
Singing
I sang until someone listened to my words, not my pitchy voice,
and they sat in the silence with me.
Bluebirds
She requested for a bluebird to be perched on her skin perfectly on her ribcage,
just below her heart, and when I asked what the meaning was she replied,
“Its one of the only things I know that gets up even when they are down.”
Carrier Pigeons
Birds congregate in the treetops to take peeks at Heaven,
sharing what they saw via telephone wires.
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Thank you for tuning to this mini-anthology. Please share what your favorite piece was, I would love to continue this series.