if life is a bird by moni brar

Originally published in The New Quarterly, issue 162, Spring 2022, p. 55.
 
            my father, magpie
cunning in soft-bodied collusion
            stark black, abysmal white
no room for grey
           
            my mother, peacock
iridescent breast poised
            for self-inflicted arrow
feathers shuddering colours
           
            and I, cardinal
hidden in hedgerows
            with blackened mouth
 crest rising at first sign of danger