Already the shape of bondage.
the manacle, the iron collar,
the iridescent black sheen
of the neck feathers
rubbed rough with brass or copper,
a jump to commands,
the artless assumption of
lesser sensitivity and lesser sense.
This much is understood,
there is no feeling for the bird,
a tool, a rod,
letting out the line of a spindle
and the god graven hook of a beak.
Under his conical hood
a fisherman will sing,
This is a living indeed
on the river boat Dixie Queen,
where the dealer is bound to clean up,
snatching the truffle from the sow,
and the bait, grander than the catch
is nothing strange.
* In some cultures, cormorants are used to catch fish. A metal ring is placed around their necks so that the bird will not be able to swallow the fish.
William Derge’s poems have appeared in Negative Capability, The Bridge, Artful Dodge, Bellingham Review, and many other publications. He is the winner of the $1000 2010 Knightsbridge Prize judged by Donald Hall and second place winner of the Rainmaker Award judged by Marge Piercy. He has received honorable mentions in contests sponsored by The Bridge, Sow’s Ear, and New Millennium, among others. He is the recipient of a grant from the Maryland Council for the Arts. He lives in the Washington, DC area.