Bird of War
Today let’s talk about the bird who wages his own war.
He flutters shades of late summer: cloudless sky, cornfields,
early-morning sun, asphalt.
He clangs his black beak against his cage in rapid fire, hurls
steel bowl to ground, a landmine of fruity pellets. His head full
of mischief juts to the hum of vacuum erasing siege.
Tomorrow he will drop the F-bomb and that man I live with
will laugh, issue a statement of non-accountability: “I never
actively trained him to say a word,” tossing a grenade
of dirty socks next to the bed. Several treaties broken as wars roar on.
Natalie Young is editor and graphic designer for the poetry magazine Sugar House Review, based out of Salt Lake City. Her poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Tar River Poetry, Chiron Review, The Dos Passos Review, Redactions: Poetry & Poetics, San Pedro River Review, and The Aurorean.
Header photo by MabelAmber, courtesy Pixabay.
