Month: November 2017

Outgrown — A Dream

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
"Outgrown".png

“Outgrown” — C.Birde, 11/17

 

They sit

in the dark

& crowded room,

hip-to-hip-to-hip &

shoulder-to-shoulder,

hunched ‘round the tv’s

flicker & flutter of half-light

in silence.

Except

the one who

sits beyond the

spasm of shadow

outside that too-small

space.

Down

a narrow hall

in a chair ill-suited to

its full-sized occupant,

whose gray-wool jacket & pants

likewise strain to contain their wearer’s

size.

Despite

such details —

too-small-chair & -suit of clothes –

that one maintains a calm

& enviable

ease.

 

— C.Birde, 11/17

 

Thoughts & Wild Rabbits — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / 5 Comments
Wild Rabbit Fur.png

“Caught” — C.Birde, 11/17

 

 

The warmth and safety

of this moment,

this place,

are no defense,

nor the play of light splashed

against closed eyelids.

The unwelcome thoughts

leap —

small, wild rabbits

through the wire fence

of consciousness.

They should not fit,

become lodged half-way,

caught between life

and non-life.

Cut them free.

Gently,

gently

lift and release each one.

Swaddle it,

heart-to-heart.

Match that rapid pulse

and stroke

the dampened fur to warmth.

Speak tenderly into the

long, listening ears

of love and

love and

love.

 

— C.Birde, 11/17

 

 

 

Guardian — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
Ally.png

“Guardian” — C.Birde, 11/17

 

Head full of ciphers,

fist full of stars,

she hears

the unsaid,

speaks

with a cynic’s

tongue.

Elbows sharp’d

against all storms;

her shoulder’s chip

maintains its buff

and shine.

Burr of flesh,

angled thought, or

heart’s constriction –

real,

perceived;

We understand

each other.

Her shadow

ascends,

extends –

 

I stand

 

in the

light.

 

 

— C.Birde

 

 

You — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / 6 Comments
Us.png

“Us” — C.Birde, 11/17

 

Wide awake,

in fully-present,

part-suspended state,

I dreamt of you –

from yesterday;

and thirty years ago.

From the many days

between.

Those images –

edges eased,

contours softened –

aligned,

one upon another.

Years —

meaningless;

momentous;

manifest.

Your smile,

your laugh –

so dear to me –

remain

unchanged.

 

 

— C.Birde

Paper Trail — A Dream

/ Carrie Birde / 3 Comments
Shame 2.png

“Paper Trail” — C.Birde, 11/17

 

Already, it had begun. The shaming.

Beyond the plate-glass doors, in dim half-light, sheets of paper lay strewn about the floor – slim sheaves spread in a white drift over flecked linoleum.

The woman placed her hand on the door’s bar – a leather-softened grip fastened over a horizontal tube of buffed aluminum. Depressing the handle, she entered. Pale light flashed and lanced off the door’s glass. Once inside, she paused, adjusted netted top hat over the knot of her hair, tugged velvet jacket into place over her ribs so brass buttons aligned spine-straight. When she broke, once more, into movement, tiers of crisp taffeta shushed about her legs. The clip and snick of her boot heels echoed, their insistence blunted by the path of paper underfoot. Each thin leaf she trod held, trapped within its rectangle, a black-and-white headshot of the shaming victim. Unwavering, the woman followed that paper trail.

Shush, snick – heel spitting cheek. Shush, snick – toe blacking eye.

When the entry hall widened, the woman halted her march, reached behind herself to lift and agitate her skirt’s bustle. The action loosed an additional sheaf of papers — they drifted free, curled in the air and settled gently to the floor behind her. These, too, held black-and-white headshots, trimmed of excess paper about the victim’s tumbled hair and shoulders.

Unsmiling, the woman continued down the hall.

Shush, snick – heel against throat. Shush, snick – toe filling mouth.

 

 

— C.Birde, 11/17