A black bird enters the world
Ignorant,
Dictated by her surroundings,
Blessed with a halo of innocence
Soon to be
Stripped of liberty and
The pursuit of happiness.

That one night:
One thousand sharp slivers of glass
Protruded through
Her shiny coat of feathers--
A dagger to the heart.

"I thought, my voice killed him;
I killed that man,
Because I told his name.
And then I thought I would
never speak again,
Because my [sic song] had the power to
Kill anyone.”*

Mute
Misinterpretation

A bird enters a cage
Trudging up a silent staircase
Enslaved by the incline.

Mrs. Flowers entered the cage,

Bluntly introducing
the abused black bird to her acquaintances.

She chirps,
“Dickens
and
Shakespeare
and
Poe
and
Douglass Johnson
and
James Weldon Johnson
and
Harper
and
Spencer
and
Fause.”

Once an encaged black bird,
Now set free,
The tip of the fleet formation
Reached a landing.

Maya, no longer encaged
By the color of her skin.

A shiny black bird,
Acclaimed and respected.