Poetry: “Bird Poem” by Sebastian Bronson Boddie
Sebastian Bronson Boddie’s poem takes many surprising directions, and just when you expect him to go left, he goes right. He’s unpredictable, and it’s almost impossible to understand how he finds the associations he does. It’s clear that there is some internal logic to the poem, but the exciting aspect of the poem is a kind of development of what seems at first to be a simple aesthetic motif. The birds in this poem are much more than simply beautiful creatures we are observing, they are also a way for the speaker to distance himself from the emotion that is stirring. Still, those emotions find their way to the surface, in the end.
Bird Poem
The sun rises so far.
I wake mourning
dove, defined by my song,
not my stomach, not what I look like
pinned on my back.
We know nothing of the wishes of birds,
their real names. Same flattened sparrow
in the gutter for weeks. Nothing washed away
despite the storm. Pretend my desire a stranger.
I had a dream I killed myself
to prove a point. Watched the noose tighten
on my own neck.
Every time I open my notebook I think of you
sitting almost-close. Do I like the real you
or the version I created?
I can’t tell. Everyone needs something pretty to hold:
I keep your voice in my mind’s fist,
soft as fruit at the bottom of the bag.
Boughs hang low in the frame
of the bus window, bloated from summer rain.
Sitting in the accordion, petals slip in.
I thought all the blossoms had died
under water weight. Outside, skaters circle each other,
not intercepting, currents in the same stream.
When one jumps
his arms pull back and up
like wings do
when trying to achieve flight.
Knowing he’ll land.
Sebastian Bronson Boddie
Sebastian Bronson Boddie (they/them/theirs) is a Caribbean-American nonbinary poet from New Jersey whose work explores memory, family, nature, and the practice of witness. With their work, they attempt to learn more about themself and the world around them. They enjoy coming-of-age films, baking, and spending time with their cat, Cow. They are a recent MFA graduate of the University of Maryland. Their work has been published in B O D Y and is forthcoming from Obsidian.
