with me you are this bleeding pelican

you collect the sky for me in

the pouch of your mouth

that’s why I fold

into myself like a crane

the vulture in me says everything

is blood and feathers

the owl in me says the most

important muscle flutters

Chris Stewart lives in Christchurch. His poems have been published in a variety of New Zealand journals, including previously in Sweet Mammalian, and a selection of his work was featured in AUP New Poets 6, last year.