she wishes she could sing
and she parts her lips
only to remember
her soul can escape this way
opening each peg
enough to let it close
she sees the crow
and thinks to feed him
even though she has no need
for shiny things
he will press her
with what he unearths
carnelian thumb stone
pearl coloured heart
sometimes mistakes
golf balls for delicious eggs
she wants only to feel
the pinch of his beak
on her breast
and all along
the underside
of each outstretched arm
her song released
with each emergent dull ache
.
Laura McKee’s poems have appeared in various journals in print and online including The Rialto, Crannog, Molly Bloom, And Other Poems, and anthologised by The Emma Press and Smith|Doorstop. She was a winner in the Guernsey International Poetry Competition.
Abegail Morley 