Startled
Massive and black
the frigate birds,
on brambles in the distance.
Their bright red gular sacs,
full as spinnaker sails
billow from their feathers,
like giant hearts of skin and air.
They remind us of our own
hearts, oversized and awkward,
quivering in the lightest wind.
Copyright Credit: Poem copyright ©2016 by Sally Bliumis-Dunn, “Startled,” from Galapagos Poems, (Kattywompus Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Sally Bliumis-Dunn and the publisher.