Riley Byers

In which illness is a dull red thing with feathers

it lies in an empty street 
the pine trees become people and then trees again someone is crying. 
the dull red thing with feathers 
sees only presence and absence and presence 
nothing changes. 
the stars are bright and empty 
the dark 
or at other times the light, 
even the air is empty, 
thoughtless 
the bird remains in the street 
wanting nothing 
Knowing, nothing. 
the quiet is everywhere 
Its chest remembers something of the sky 
A desperate flapping, flapping– 
but the bird wants nothing 
Its feathers are dull and red 
And there are hundreds–thousands–hundred thousands of them
Soundless


Riley Byers is a full-time student at Brandeis University with a strong passion for reading and writing poetry. She is majoring in Computer Science and Pyschology and identifies as an artist of all types. She particularly enjoys writing about the complications between the internal and external world, animals, and the intricacies of identity.