A girl & I were taking a walk
and we found part of a bird:

tonight we saw
a bird's wing
in a parking lot
all by itself
it was sticking out from the peak
of a snowbank
Mount Monadnock lay
low in the sky behind the snowbank
the snowbank looked like the mountain's child
or it's shadow burned down
into a pile of white ash
and the bird's wing looked like
more than a battered flag
it had so many finely crafted
strands of color
and it was such a sculpture
we pleaded with an unseen hand
to re-make it

with a frightened look
you grabbed the wing and pulled it out
but no bird's body followed

where are your eggs, little bird
where are your children
are you bleeding in your nest
are little blue eggs dotting the snow
like fading drops
from the brush of some landscape painter
running away with their canvas & knives
to save their painting
as the snow engulfs them

did something tear you apart
I hope something didn't tear you apart
if it did I hope it was quick

I promise to be quick

I hope something gentle & strong
is carrying you away in it's teeth

there's a heat inside snow
everyone feels and denies
ash is raining down
from a burnt sky
we wag our tongues
we touch our tongues together
we laugh at how our tongues feel,
touching each other