About that bird that sings

Bold and true

Beautiful abandonment

Belonging to just a few

Behold its sweet song of sorrow

Whistling at winds of change

The spotter on the lookout

Shot down by denial

Such is the disgrace

The hunter’s rifle smokes

As it chokes out that flame

The fanfare never arrived

For that song bird that whistled so true

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. About that bird that sings speaks to the silencing of truth-tellers — those rare voices whose beauty and courage unsettle a world more comfortable with denial than change.