we stood at the corner together, silent, staring.
your breath slipped between your lips in a relentless
stream; it could have carried me for miles but the
river was frozen over, as had our hearts.

looking down; we wore peacoats that year, our
hair long and wrists thin. tiny body, feathers
fluffed against the cold, 'the heart stops'
he said and i said, 'yes, but when?'.

there is special providence in the fall of
a sparrow but we did not defy augury. it
was the autumn of omens; the tea leaves
scattered into vague warnings and the
cup did nothing to warm our hands.

oh, passeridae! what hope is there for us
if your passing could be so silent, so still,
essentially unmourned. i crept back out to
you as he slept, burned sage, mumbled through
apologies that in hopes that one day, we could be reborn.

09/30/2008

Author's Note: Reread Hamlet, got stuck on the line "There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow".

Posted on 09/30/2008
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