A Cage in Search of a Bird
I am a cage, in search of a bird.
Franz Kafka
So much depends upon
a little hinged door
held open:
where sometimes a canary
consoling itself with song
swings
sometimes an upstart crow
raucous, an iridescent sheen
preens
sometimes a mourning dove
head under a wing
grieves
more often a shade
taloned, rapt, amber-eyed
broods
a beating of air
a tearing of flesh
sometimes even in my sleep.
…..
This poem is from the chapbook A Cage in Search of a Bird by Kathleen Holliday (Finishing Line Press) and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/a-cage-in-search-of-a-bird-by-kathleen-holliday/
Rich with imagery, irony, and word-play, the poems of Kathleen Holliday’s third chapbook, A Cage in Search of a Bird range from narrative to brief, all with startling impact. There are poems of family: “If My Father Could Ask Why I Have Tattoos,” and death: “Rounded with a Sleep.” The natural world appears—though in surprising ways: “Native Tongue, A Walk in the Woods;” as does eros: “The Final Problem, My Near-Death Experience.” A long sojourn in Minnesota results in “The Fifth Month of Winter.” The final poem, “Rafting,” is a gesture toward connection in these dark times. Several of these poems first appeared in literary journals. “Running in the Dark” was awarded first prize in Common Ground Review’s Poetry Prize 2022, and the title poem was long-listed in the Fish Publishing Poetry Prize 2022, judged by former U.S. poet laureate, Billy Collins.
Kathleen Holliday lives on an island in the Salish Sea. Her poems have appeared in Cathexis Northwest Press, Common Ground Review, Poet Lore, Poetry Super Highway, SHARK REEF Literary Magazine, The Write Launch and other journals. She is a graduate of Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN. Her chapbooks, Putting My Ash on the Line (2020) and Boatman, Pass By (2023) were published by Finishing Line Press. For more: http://www.kathleenholliday.com
The Paddock Review 