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Caught

by Carolyn Martin  

Foil crackling? No. That scratching sound
            announces grating news:
            another bird is caught.

Our stovepipe prisons small black wings
            lured down the chimney, down
            the flue by some dark impulse, down

until their pleas outwit my reasoning.
            They should mean brighter things
            like presents, cookies, cake unwrapped,

not this unset trap I’m dared to spring.
            I know the drill: unfasten door, dislodge the pipe,
            persuade the flagging wings to flight.

But still I fear imprisoned things ─
fear this bird exploding into light
            will miss the door and flail around

the kitchen walls more frantic than before.
What to choose? Its slow dark death
            or, perhaps, another kind of death.

First published in Autumn Sky.

By Carolyn Martin

Carolyn Martin, a former Roman Catholic nun and associate professor of English, transformed herself into an international management trainer and keynote speaker. Co-author of four books on generational diversity, she has written articles for numerous business publications including Global HR, Community Bank Notes, and Nursing Management. Her work has also been cited in dozens of periodicals around the world – from Beijing to Montreal, Buenos Aires to London.

Blissfully retired in Clackamas, Oregon, since 2008, she gardens, writes and plays with communities of creative colleagues. Currently she is president of the board of VoiceCatcher (www.voicecatcher.org), a nonprofit that connects women writers and artists in greater Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA.

An award-winning poet, Carolyn’s poems have appeared in such publications as Stirring, Becoming: What Makes A Woman, Naugatuck River Review, and Persimmon Tree. Her first collection, Finding Compass, was published in 2011; her second is searching for its compass. Her e-mail address: