The breast of a bird—yellowed and
swollen—rises and falls with a labored song
of lament for feathers once bright
now muddled and marked. And everyone
seems to adore the color yellow, take
solace in its reminiscent hue of the sun, but
have you ever seen the way citrine shifts?
The vibrant plumage of a bird’s body turns
a shade of bittered bile, reminiscent of
nothing—built-up waste and a forgotten song.
KATIE ELLEN BOWERS is a Southern writer and educator living in a small rural town with her husband and daughter. Her poetry and prose can be found in several literary journals and magazines such as Sky Island Journal, Kakalak, The Jasper Project, Flying South, Qu Literary Magazine, and Good Printed Things. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize for poetry. She is the author of the poetry collection This Earthly Body (Main Street Rag, 2024).