Gaudy by Cassy Dorff

Gaudy

by Cassy Dorff

published in Rust+Moth, Winter 2021

The bird book called him America’s most

gaudy bird. Some said the king cakes

in New Orleans were gaudy

and the Mardi Gras beads too,

gold, green, and purple inelegance

thrown from floats in the parade. Now

in central Texas, I look for this

bird in the Lost Pine Forest

wondering if he will be gaudy,

like the brassy god inside me

and the twinkling drag queens

who introduced me to the next world.

I want the sight of this bird to cut

my ...