I like it when the pheasants

get away, I like

to see their ungainly leap

from fence or wall like

how I imagine I would fly.

I like it when they get

across the road, not just

walking down it like

some teenage boy plays

chicken / pheasant,

I like to hope

that in the wilds there’s

some gang of pheasants like

lost boys, I like to hope

they find their Wendy.

About the Author

Cara L McKee lives on the west coast of Scotland and gets to work in a village library. Her poetry has been published in places like Gutter Magazine, Butcher’s Dog, and Idle Ink among others, and her chapbooks, First Kiss (Maytree Press, 2020), and Little Gods (Roswell Publishing, 2023, featuring Escaping Pheasants) are available from your local bookseller, or direct from Cara for a signed copy. Website: skeletonarchitecture.blogspot.com, Instagram: @caralmckee