What Flies in Two-Dimensions?

            (Columba Constellation – Dove)

Mother bird births baby and baby births her.

Transformation becomes repression.

I sought to free you by bottling up peace,

wheeling you to wallpaper. So many new doves

mashed flat. All around me urban birds,

some collared, some crowned, some square-tailed.

Cemented in place. I begged you to allow me refuge,

opposite of your purpose. Mud-sodden

game against linen. I imagined what you imagined possible –

as day-glint waned to night-soak –

vertical blinds flat like forward-facing soldiers.

Wallpaper is rarely economical;

it’s luxury, cheek-soft.

Silks and tweed and cotton

laid down as lovers ensconcing sacred land.

As corners curl, I peel you from plaster.

Put you on windowsills hoping you’ll take off.

Follow your faces into floor gaps.

Off two-dimensional life support.

—

Amy Strauss Friedman is the author of the poetry collection The Eggshell Skull Rule (Kelsay Books, 2018), and the chapbook Gathered Bones are Known to Wander (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2016). Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and her work has appeared in Pleiades, Rust + Moth, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Amy’s work can be found at amystraussfriedman.com.