Zebra Seeking Spoons

She beat her wings

against the brass bars,

each shimmer dimmed

by the dust of waiting.

Light once clung

to her shoulders

like promise—

now it flickers,

a tremble in shadow.

The cage hangs

from a forgotten rafter,

where no wind stirs

and the stars

cannot find her.

She sings,

but it’s not song—

more a thread of sound

pulled from the throat

of a dream unraveling.

Time does not move here.

Only the echo

of her own heartbeat

against metal

that does not bend.

Once,

she belonged to the sky.

Now,

even the sky

has forgotten her name.