Steven O. Young Jr
Bird and Stone
The adage makes me
your enemy, cast to shatter
you, song and shadow.
But my body
isn’t subject
to their hands
alone. Take me in your beak.
Let me abrade
within your gizzard’s
constrictions.
Make me the teeth
your evolution
has inspired.
Take me in your
beak. Let me raise
your pitcher’s depths.
Make me drowned
mountains, breathless
masonry forged
to slake your spring. Take me in
your beak. Let me
work against
your hunger.
Make me hammer,
Take me make me
in your beak. spade.
Make me soar!
Let me flutter
within the manifold
feathers quilted
to your winging heart.
About the Author
Steven O. Young Jr. lives on the rim of Detroit, where he received an MA from Oakland University. His most recent works have been published or are forthcoming at Inklette, Unlost Journal, Apricity Magazine, Penumbra, Reunion: The Dallas Review, and West Trade Review.