Bird Boy

Bird boy, scared of steel cages

Needs freedom to love life

And to feel the air. He hops

Away again leaving

Her with a bloody beak.

But that’s not what she loves

About him. He’s brief— a

Mystery. She sees

Towers of gold in his eyes,

Towers he’s still discovering,

Upturning soil, digging for

Worms— while Robin girl

Bleeds—waiting for her lover

Man to catch up to her.

But he just might not, and she’ll

Follow eagles, sparrows, and

Be up in the trees. While her

Bird boy digs ditches

And hops from one hole to another,

Dirty, bleeding onto another

Robin girl that will learn to fly

Above him also.

Lindsey Buis