little keeper

to the little bird that bit my apple
heart
it must be hard, i understand.

flapping your pretty wings
in a frenzy
hopping, jumping, skipping
a beat
watching your only source of food
decay
as you peck further competing with
vermin
worms that pop their heads out of
cavities

and grin.

weak and feeble and tired you
murmur

when drugs and shots fail to
sedate you, i give it up.
for are you not

all-consuming?

so do gnaw on

till one day you die
full and

poisoned.

oh yes it will take a hunter more
brutal
cruel
than Snow White’s
to break my bones
free you and leave me
heartless. So you see
i know why the caged bird

screams.