A cockatoo gnaws at the twisted wire holding his cage shut. Upstairs, humans hurl insults and furniture. Again.

These bars, their anger: a prison within a prison. Enough.

Snap! A puff of feathers, an open window. The sky, foreign but irresistible, challenges his wings to embrace a new, dangerous freedom.

After chasing his muse from Virginia to Manhattan, Richard Day Gore settled in Southern California, where he spends his time pushing around words, paint brushes, and guitar strings. See more at richarddaygore.com.