The Ancient Modern
To You The Cursed / Joshua Alan Sturgill
If I happen to succeed
at capturing the Wild Bird
how long could she live
under my well-intentioned
ignorance? O Beauty!
O Wild Bird! I am to you
the cursed antagonist
of a fairytale, doomed
to cast my love forever
out of reach! No sooner
does my shadow pass
over the beautiful mouth,
the eyes, the wings
but they wilt and tarnish
emptied of their splendor
as they turn to stone