Andrea Kneeland

Anchor


Perhaps there has been less
to say, perhaps lately as a fault
of mine; you are beyond
my inquiry. But you know

the pillow soft heat of a feather
unhinged from original bird
to pack itself wingless and
tethered in a trap sewn tight

for flightless comfort. It is not
to say that I feel a strange veil
of sadness for a feather detached
or for a bird’s corpse; it is to say

that I know there are things made
to cause comfort by being still.

Andrea Kneeland's first collection of short stories, the Birds & the Beasts, is forthcoming from Cow Heavy Press. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Annalemma, American Letters & Commentary, Barrelhouse, Quick Fiction, Caketrain, Pank, Noo Journal, The Collagist and Wigleaf. She is a web editor for Hobart.