What I’m Capable Of By Sheila Sondik

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​What I’m Capable Of
 
I did it 
because there was only 
one pine siskin 
at the bird feeder.
 
The air was like
a lightly wrung-out sponge.
 
I disremembered the sun.
 
The orange cat 
I'd never seen before
stalked the pine siskin.
 
I wanted 
a kind of purity in my life.
 
I promised 
not to hurt the cat
if  she would disappear.
 
I'd resort to violence again
but only if feints 
and foolishness failed.
 
I did it to save the tiny, voracious finch.
I did it to satisfy my own hunger.

​

Sheila Sondik, poet and printmaker, lives in Bellingham, Washington.  Her poetry has appeared in CALYX, Kettle Blue Review, The Literateur, Raven Chronicles, The Floating Bridge Review, and elsewhere. Egress Studio Press published her chapbook, Fishing a Familiar Pond: Found Poetry from The Yearling, in 2013. She has studied a wide range of Japanese and Chinese art forms and her haiku, tanka, and related verse are in numerous print and on-line journals.

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