Ornithographies
Joseph Geskey
after the photography of Xavi Bou
Harnessed and banded with technology
the jackdaw becomes less mysterious
in flight, no longer believed to announce
a birth when landing on a roof or heralding
a death nesting in a chimney. Fact-
checked folklore and the accumulating opus
of scientific literature reducing every act
to the survival of the fittest. What narratives
exist in rereading the calligraphy of wings
scrawling across the Nile Blue sheet of sky
knowing its family is safe from predation,
their hunger sated, & the viewer experiencing
wonder again in every invisible commute
recorded from departure to destination.
About the Author
Joseph Geskey is a physician who works in an underserved area of Columbus, Ohio. Broken Tribe Press will publish his second book of poetry, Vigil, in 2026. Alms for the Ravens appeared in 2024 from Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Individual poems have appeared in Tar River Poetry, Verse Daily, Poetry East, JAMA, The Dodge, Cloudbank, North Dakota Quarterly, and the Roanoke Review, among many others. Read more of his poetry at josephgeskey.com.