Sarah
I saw a bird in the grass
small and brown
its round body partially hidden in the long blades
around its throat was a ring of purple dried blood
and its yellow beak was open and a black tongue
hung out
one of its wings was broken and all the brown feathers had been torn off
the other wing was folded closely to its body
the feet were untouched
it was in the middle of the front yard, which was very small, about the size of a
Volkswagen with just the grass, and a single dogwood
I wanted to name her Sarah after an ex-girlfriend I’d
had—
and so I picked up Sarah and wrapped her in the newspaper
and put her under the tree in the corner where no one would see her.
Jacob Uitti was born and raised in Princeton, NJ, and moved to Seattle in 2007. Since, he has co-founded the Seattle-based literary and arts journal The Monarch Review. He is also a co-founding member of the bands The Glass Notes and The Great Um. He has half a fake Master’s Degree from The University of Washington due to the number of classes he’s audited. Jacob also works tending bar and co-managing the PopUp restaurant Mo’Fun. Often, poetry can best express the idea with passion and a smirk unknown anywhere else.