ysabetwordsmith: Sheba with parrot wings (fledgling grace)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2023-09-26 01:46 pm

Poem: "Featherfluid"

This poem came out of the September 5, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] mama_kestrel. It also fills the "Body" square in my 9-1-23 card for the Story Sparks Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Fledgling Grace.


"Featherfluid"


When the Fledging came,
most people developed
bird feathers that matched
their human sex and gender.

Some birds, of course, looked
the same whether male or female,
but others had dramatic differences.

Some people had bird feathers of
the opposite sex, or more rarely,
divided between male and female.

Then there were those who were
neither one nor the other, and not
quite both, whose identities and
bodies shifted like liquid in a jar.

They had come to be called
many things over the years,
most recently genderfluid.

With the Fledging, some
of them developed feathers
that changed their proportions.

Here was a cardinal with feathers
mixed in red and brown, some days
more red and others more brown.

Here was a goldfinch with yellow
winking amongst the olive drab.

They were ineffable, ever-changing,
unpredictable, always in flux.

They were the featherfluid.

Re: Yes ...

[personal profile] acelightning73 2023-09-27 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm completely human, although when I was a kid they called me a "Martian". My brain is probably structurally different, although the differences may not show up on an MRI. I did once manage a set of vaguely draconic wings once, while in trance, but all they did was amuse the Dragon who was trying to teach me. Most animals are relatively easy to understand.