brd

stdnt sks                  
           hw s th flyng thng splld?

tchr sys        
           ll th sft lttrs hv blwn ff
           spll brd
                                                                          lk         brd

tchr tlls stry
                      frst mnfst dstny
                      th bffl wr hntd nd skltns stckd
                      th ntv ppl wr pshd n slghtrd
                      
           tk wht th y cn s

           thn crps plntd nd plntd nd plntd nd plntd
           thn dry nd ht nd dry nd cld nd dry nd ht
                      thn rbbts nd rbbts nd rbbts
                      thn mn clbbd ll th rbbts
           pld nd lghd
                      vrythng brnd
                      ll th ppl thrstd nd th lnd crckd
                      brd jst lft bfr snrs nd snst
                      brd dsspprd
                      thn nsts mpty
           

stdnt sks       
           wht hppnd t brd?

tchr sys         
           brd sys n brnchs t prch nd crps cllps nd hrvsts nd n wrms s hngry
                      
           brd sys           spk sky                        spk
                                                                                                 drk spk                      
           ll thngs trnd psdwn
                       
                                                                         thn blw wy
                      
           nd trnds nd hrrcns nd wrs nd dss
           nd nthng lvng

stdnt sks       
           dd brd knw?

tchr nswrs    
           brd knw          trd t spk
                                    thrt splt

           brd ndd wtr

stdnt sys       
           whts wtr?

Copyright © 2020 by Anthony Cody. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 2, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“Last year, I spent an afternoon drawing with my niece and nephews. Before cleaning up, I asked my younger nephew to write the name of the animals he drew. Atop the winged creature he hurriedly wrote brd. This brd challenged me to re-examine the poems I was working on, poems centered around The Dust Bowl, whiteness, and climate collapse in post-truth, late stage capitalism. The more I wrote, the more unsure I became around what future mammal, or animal, the voice summoned. I became more concerned with the fear, exhaustion, and deep sense of loss that arrives within me each time the poem is read aloud. Ultimately, brd continues to ask, what will remain?”
—Anthony Cody

Black Lives Matter Anthology  

 

“I guess what stands out to me is that they both were
gay black mountains of men
Cut down
Felled too early”

—“I Can’t Breathe” by Pamela Sneed