The Ghetto Bird (III)
- The Ghetto Bird (III)
O, bird of perfect weight.That fits in a backpack& cruises blindly downthe street under watchful
glares the pigs give, the ghettobird on nightshift abovea glowing O in nightsky, unblinking eye white
floodlight. Big brother orbig bird, either way nowwe ride slow in low pro-file rides, take the side streets:
a bird stashed in the trunk,a few birds in the backseat, this game of words wherethings seem to be the same
until it comes to asentencing: the subjectput in context, one birdin a Ziploc & the
other in a tight dress,a boy convicted forwearing red shoes, red shirt.O, white bird in plastic wrap
be the answer to the swansongs in the mouthsof these poor damned birds dumbwith hunger, moved by thirst. [End Page 540]
O so much depends onyou & the bread a flipwill bring us, a red wheelon the jet-black DeVille
parked beside the two whitechickens twerking outside,a glaze of rain water,a sentence without end [End Page 541]
esteban ismael lives in San Diego, CA. He teaches creative writing with the San Diego Community College District. His poems have recently appeared in Ruminate, H_NGM_N, RHINO, Crab Orchard Review, and Verse Wisconsin Online, among others.
