bright bird

bright bird

i thought things would be better
after the bird died, felled by the
fumes of the kerosene heater
we buried it with solemnity
and cried sadly with the secret
free thoughts one might harbor
if awakened all through the night
and early morning by What Is
Your Problem?
the only line the bird
ever delivered, but delivered
far too often and well
and we were sorry in that
uneasy, awkward way grief
is displayed when someone dies
you meant to be close to
but instead find a new zest
in living by their demise
and we were so happy
at first to be sleeping
like babies through the night
until we starting asking
ourselves the same question
and realized the bird had taken
that screeching one liner
from acute observation.

Reviews

[W.k.kortas]

A little more wry, with a bit more bite, than the norm for your work, though that isn't certainly a bad thing.
It's clever without being self-congratulatory in its cleverness. Fine piece of work.

[Sel Whiteley]

Powerful, what a beautiful rendering of the birds humanity. How the bird influences your thoughts, how it keeps your scrutiny at the fore and then all that, and the bird, 'felled by the/fumes of the kerosene heater' and suddenly you realise you've lost your skills of intense introspection and that you're sleeping soundly isn't a good thing because so much is hidden from your psyche. What a deep, thought-provoking and beautifully poem.

[Collect-Eye]

funny the things animals can teach us
who watches us more closely than they?
who reflects our frustration and happiness more clearly?
nothing metaphorical, nothing stained, I say
sorry for the cryptology..it's just my way [=
I don't usually fully understand the things I say
until the picture unfolds a little better.