Black Birds

Black Bird                      2/25/2016

Blackbirds search  

In a gray winter sky

Crying out secrets

I will never know. 

The coyotes are dead

So the ravens must eat

Sitting on the wires

Circling my head.

What worked before

Does not work now

And what pleasures

Have I known

That have all passed me by.

I huddle in my sleep

And draw up my legs

Colder than the evening

The dark before the dawn. 

Whispering ghosts

Tickling my ear

Food for the birds

Left in a ditch. 

Unspeakable is the loss

That no one understands

So we hold it captive

In our heart

It becomes a strange comfort

That we nurse

Drawing out the blood

To watch it bleed. 

The birds know me

And I know them

Both afraid

But both alive.