the bird on her shoulder (November 13, 2019)

a shattered mirror reflecting the

broken face of a caged

prisoner; free as a bird

in her mind, she sings

with-

out a

sound, fearful

of the piercing trill

of 

her past, clouded with things

once unknown,

but 

as they slowly creeped in, she longed

for

all to be still.

but now and

then his

shadow emerges with a tragic tune

that is

heard

beyond her reach on

a long-lost memory of the

distant

heart, sitting on a withered hill.

for 

in the mirror the

caged 

prisoner imagines a bird

that sings

on its own of

the one thing that will never come: freedom