A dove, trapped within abandoned dog run,
panics as it hears my approach.
Red eyes rolling in terror,
beats pale wings against wire walls,
can’t find a way out.
My mother rages,
ensnared in a body ravaged by cancer,
plaintively asks, “What’s the point?
It’s only going to get worse.”
Each day brings increased pain,
more nausea, swelling tumors,
less independence.
Neither prisoner finds the means
to escape involuntary confinement,
pass through latched doors,
achieve blessed release,
ascend to freedom.
