Elegy for a Flashback of Feathered Creatures2nd Place in the Poetry Writing Contest
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Issue 19
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Up for adoption, I carried my fears in a fixation
Of a chain-link lockdown, a sequestered steward For a nanny dog with a stubborn affection for kids A muscle-bound extrovert with flashbacks Disregarding the men in blue who consoled My mistrust in a hiding place for changelings I was shackled to a phobia of shrewd brawlers And I shuddered at the suggestion of a rebellion Found high and pompous on their perch was where They routinely ambushed meaty mortals with talons Accused of first-degree cruelty, they struck without Notice not soon enough after an insincere warning In the damp morning I concocted a battle cry, oh That raspy screech in the sanctuary of a live oak Tree where birds of prey induced my heart to race plunging fast and loose among drapes of moss I did not expect to see mottled wings of aerial Karma hunting nearby in a peripheral shadow Concealing southern wingspans in the form Of psychotic beasts with widespread wings |
KENNETH BOYD won 2nd Place of the Poetry Writing Contest. He, an award-winning writer, is a neurodivergent poet and former jazz musician. He is disabled but uses his perspective to enrich his writing. As an emerging writer, his poetry appears in the Burningword Literary Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, Wayfarer Magazine, Empyrean Literary Magazine, eMerge Magazine, Flora Fiction, Unlost Journal, and elsewhere. Grasshopper Dreams (2023) is his debut poetry collection. Kenneth is a graduate of the UCLAx Creative Writing Program and a former Assistant Poetry Editor at Southland Alibi magazine. He embraces life in the South and is inspired by fine jazz, fine art, fine cigars, and fine pork pie hats.
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