the paper
cold and frail,
set in its grave of fire.
Gone
the figure
lacks color-
the rich green
and auburn head
and silk wings
that never bent in the wind.
Still
not even a cry,
not a scream
or a breath
or a twitch of the eye,
as the small bird clings to the branch-
prepared to watch
as the world deteriorates
and it’s feathers fall.
The lavish green
falling to the ground-
an image smeared with red
like bloody handprints,
Fire
A feeble body
cascading
down from the tree tops-
landing silently
on the ashy ground.
Writer's Note:
This poem was inspired by the sculpture pictured above and the sad reality of the Carolina Parakeet. I chose this sculpture as inspiration for my poem because of it’s simple appearance, yet important message it conveys through the details of its creation. The sculpture is made of dictionary pages and depicts a Carolina Parakeet, an extinct species of bird. It’s almost as if the sculpture is a statue honoring the deceased bird. I wanted to convey this through my poem by describing the beauty of the bird, and emphasizing the extinction of the bird. Through this poem, I wanted to create a contrast between the sorrowful death of the Carolina Parakeet, and the way that it died silently and unnoticed.
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