Winged Witness — The Quiet Reader

A seated figure turned slightly in profile, her hands resting on a worn book held close to her chest. The wings follow the line of her back — not dramatic, not lifted — simply present, like a history that has learned how to be carried.

The crow remains near her shoulder, attentive and unafraid.

There is no gesture of prayer and no gesture of defiance.

Only stillness — the kind that comes after a long season of endurance.

This piece belongs to The Winged Witnesses series, where the threshold is not a moment of decision, but a place of pause — a brief rest between what has already been lived and what has yet to be spoken.