The classification of birds

pages of birds

and not one to classify

as soul slipping

not one to fly

beneath the surface

of our skin

on a path

to wherever

lame, flightless creatures go

when the heart stops

imagine this one

skimming the surface

what does that say

about the string you cut

to get here

Elizabeth Threadgill holds an MFA in Poetry and a PhD in Developmental Education-Literacy, both from Texas State University. She grew up in Marfa, Texas, and now lives in upstate New York, where she is an Assistant Professor of English at Utica College. She is the author of the chapbook Tangled in the Light. Her poetry also appears in or is forthcoming from Radar Poetry, Fugue, DIALOGIST, Empty Mirror, Bracken Magazine, and elsewhere.