Wounded Birds

By: Adela M. Brito

Like a mockingbird you nested nearby,

and there you remained for three sweet seasons.

Chirping, giggling, caring.

Then as winter stripped colors

trauma hit you. Again.

Hurt & ire resurfaced.

But the source of your wounds was absent,

her mind elsewhere. Between one sundown

and the next, the pendulum swung

and pointed at me. After all –

Don’t we hurt the ones we love?

Aggressions & tantrums: your coping defenses.

And when the cockatoo tattled, you raged and raged.

Abuse & cruelty: your weapons.

So, after erecting a wall of steadfast fury,

your war against me was waged.

Then –silence.

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Adela M. Brito has published stories in The Acentos Review, Hieroglyph, Litbreak Magazine, Moko Magazine, and The Sandy River Review, and her poetry, nonfiction, and arts reviews have appeared in Adelaide Literary Magazine, The Closed Eye Open, All About Jazz, Counterculture UK, EdgeNetwork, Storyboard Memphis, and Underwood. She holds an MFA in Fiction and teaches college English and creative writing.