Face Behind Bars by Bogdan Dragos

her hair made her face

look like

it was always

behind bars

or trapped

in barbed wire

Nothing could get

through those

thin bars

but the mouth

of the bottle

as it joined hers

strands of

hair would get

inside her mouth

and between her lips

and into the bottle

and she

wouldn’t care one bit

“If I were a bird,” she

said. “I’d never

sing. I’d just

fly and fly

and fly around the world.

Around and

around until

I’d get hungry

and thirsty

and I wouldn’t eat

or drink. No,

I’d keep on

flying and flying until

I’d drop dead into

some ocean

somewhere. That would

be a life worth

living.

Ah, but I’m not a

bird.

The being that I am

can only imagine what

it’s like to be one

while drinking

herself into the

ultimate fantasy. Here

I go.”

The mouth of

the…