BIRTHDAY POEM

Open a box with a box.
Open a bottle with a box.
Open a bottle with a bird.

Remove the paper creased into
place and write the bird.
Write ivy white wrist bones
against a brick wall
Write its wings.
Write forgiveness, like a hinge.
Write its trackway.
Write how to trust things with edges.
Write its eyes.
Write the cobbled grief of undoing.

Put the bird back in the box.
Now write the bird.

—	Birthday Poem | Alisha Bruton