Feathers

I pass a hand down your side,
Feel the cracks in your ribs,
Feel your heart flutter, (a bird in a cage).
A bird with its wings clipped, panicking,
Talons shredding the flesh of your body.
The bird's name is Guilt.
I know this now by the way you avoid my gaze,
Sending those eagle eyes soaring to anywhere but mine.
But I have let myself believe before that
The bird's name was Joy.
I believed that the flutter I felt
Was the elated beating of free-flying wings,
Your eyes leaving mine out of shyness.
But now I know the truth, and soon,
My own bird's name will be Revenge.