‘Redwing’ by Eleanor Hooker

As though on a cloud, it lay on the snow, newly dead –
feather and frame round blown glass. It felt transgressive,
to spread his wing, to inspect. Inside my ribcage, my ruby-throated
hummingbird turns the key; fearful I will fall through my own song.

From issue #9: autumn/winter 2019

About the Author
Eleanor Hooker is the author of three poetry collections: Of Ochre and Ash (Dedalus Press, 2021), A Tug of Blue (Dedalus Press, 2016) and The Shadow Owner’s Companion (Dedalus Press, 2012). She holds an MPhil (Distinction) in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin. She is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (FLS). She is helm on Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat.