like a bird
By Sinead Ballagh

like a bird
with a broken
wing
would I be,
unable to fly,
should you leave.

(an uneasy prey,
scrambling about
on unfamiliar ground,
an alien element,
would I be)

one so accustomed
to the reel of air
beneath one’s wings
was never meant
to stumble;
without support —
left unbalanced,
at odds
with life,
were you to leave

you would leave me
here,
at the mercy of
the elements,
abandoned, discarded
would I be

— Sinead Ballagh is a Lawrence native and a graduate student in the science of library and information management program at Emporia State University. Poet’s Showcase features work by area poets. Submit your poetry via e-mail with a subject line of Poet’s Showcase to mpaget@ljworld.com or send typewritten (not handwritten) submissions to Mindie Paget, 645 N.H., Lawrence 66044, attn: Poet’s Showcase. Teen writers should submit their work to the 18 & Under page at teens@ljworld.com.