I do not know for sure if there was blood
or downy feathers mixing with the rage
that sheltered in my ribs, the ruby of
my heart askance, so crushed within its cage.
The bird flew headlong, smashed into the glass
as voices sliced, kept rising, as we blurred
the highway blindly, headed for the coast,
a metaphor too obvious, absurd.
Perhaps it happened this way, perhaps not.
I cannot know if memory is life
or living memory, only that I
cringed into the seat, swallowed the knife, spent
decades unlearning what I learned of love
the moment our car hit that single dove.
Laura Guli is an Italian American/Mexican American poet and licensed psychologist in private practice in Austin, TX. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and northern Virginia. Laura is published in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including, Ocotillo Review, The Lyric, and Third Wednesday. Her chapbook, A Fiery Grace, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2010 and was a Finalist in the New Women's Voices Chapbook competition. Laura has also appeared as a featured reader at Bookwoman and Malvern Books in Austin, TX. Laura is also the author of an internationally recognized social skills program for children (Social Competence Intervention Program, Research Press, 2008) as well as the playwright and lyricist for the new award-winning musical Sunflower: The Story of Amalie and Vincent, produced in Austin in 2022. Laura has been writing for most of her life, and her poetry is influenced by relationship, spirituality, and nature.