Caged

Bold red letters scroll across an enormous

screen under the hotel’s arching awning:

“Thanks For Visiting, Attendees of the Annual

Southeast Veterinary Conference. See You

Next Year!”

As I pack to leave, I am still thinking

about my presentation from

the night before, “Signs of Stress and Specialized

Care of Birds in Captivity.”

It’s 9am when I leave, and the sun

is pounding already, sifting its way

through lazy palms, beating

into the asphalt, making it flicker

and glint like thousands of pieces of glass.

I drag my suitcase behind me, one hand tight

around a paper cup of lukewarm coffee, and

just before I reach the car, my high heel snags

and catches on something on the ground.

I manage to steady the coffee, but look down and

see it –

a doll, her head caved in on one side, what’s left

of her left eye cracked and smeared, half-closed.

She is covered in black scuffs, her body

disjointed and unnatural.

I lean down, almost straighten her torn yellow dress,

thinking about how a child somewhere

is probably looking for her,

but change my mind, and step into the car,

flinging my suitcase into the seat beside me.

I slide the key into the ignition

and press the brake, start to reverse

the car, and that's when

I hear it-

a loud smack, and yank

my head up just in time to watch

a woman’s earring go flying

into the passenger-side window

of the car parked in front of mine.

Her left arm raises up, and she keeps

her elbow bent, protecting her cheek

while she takes her other

earring out, her head kept

bent and lowered while a man

in the driver’s seat is shouting

and flailing his arms.

I am motionless, my foot still on the brake, and

then it flashes in my mind –

the things I’d said during my speech…

the signs of stress in captive birds, how

they sometimes tear their feathers out,

and keep their wings raised away from their bodies –

and I wondered if anyone was watching her,

this lady in front of me, for the signs of distress,

and did they know

the specialized

care of birds

in captivity?