I Was Your Bird

I Was Your Bird explores love, memory, identity, and transformation with a voice that is sharp, intimate, and often hauntingly surreal. Grappling with disconnection, environmental destruction, substance misuse, trauma, and the dissolution of a relationship, these poems move through dive bars, prehistoric landscapes, and dreamlike interiors shaped by queer poetics and magical realism. This collection leans into the strange to confront both personal and planetary collapse.

From imagined letter-poems to a contemporary Emily Dickson to meditations on mortality and resilience, I Was Your Bird refuses easy answers. Without viable models from the dominant culture to solve problems of self, the speaker forges their own path in search of meaning, connection, and the possibility of redemption.

Author: Brett Hanley
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Jackleg Press
Published: 07/15/2026
Pages: 100
Weight: 0.5lbs
Size: 8.00h x 8.00w x 0.27d
ISBN: 9781956907995