BRONTË’S BIRD II

by Tila Neguse

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I turn inward sometimes
To preen my feathers.

I’ve been flying across the sea
In stormy weather.

I turn inward sometimes
To lick salt from my wings.

I’ve been crawling the night sky
While the wayward wind sings.

I turn inward sometimes
To hide my beak.

I wake to find it’s been chipped
With blood filling my cheeks. 

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Tila Neguse is a poet and the Senior Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2) at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Warren Wilson College.