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Birds
by Steve MichaelsThe window pane is cracked by
bills, claws and errant
branches as wistful wind has woken
me with whispered promise
each morning, rain or shine, alone
or encumbered by tousled hair, clutching
hand or latched on leg and I
simply staring at peaked
ceiling considering the outcomes
of myriad actions and even
the consequence of doing
nothing.
Whether I wake and "shoo" or rise and
"shoe" no true difference in the
gut-rumbling remonstrance of tortured
conscience and clinging past
no real empathy with the tittering, fluttering
finches as they creep up and tapittytappittytaptap
at my window
these birds reminding me to
take stock, take a knee or
take a bow as dimpled ass scurries
quickly toward lighted door way.
The squirrels worse, criminal in the way they
slither up slimy glass and spy
"OH HOW THEY SPY!"
peeping inside at me, resplendent in my
middle age, lounging in a lechers
leisure, stroking my narrow beard
pondering my pillage
crowned by concupiscence!
"Once I was a forthright man!" I
shout and draw the curtain. Clever in the dark,
I reach to see if spot is still warm
where she once laid, scratch in hopes
of grasping lingering DNA
It's all for naught, and not for all but
one long swansong to inevitable
mediocrity.
Aging like a tainted grape clutching
leave from withered branch
one more second left to dream before
anticlimactic fall to earth
11/29/2013 Posted on 11/29/2013
Copyright © 2024 Steve Michaels
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Jim Benz on 11/29/13 at 11:22 PM "Aging like a tainted grape"--I know what you mean, Steve, and I like the way you express it throughout. |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 11/30/13 at 01:23 PM I feel complete empathy with your plight and know fully well the feeling of being clever in the dark and reaching to feel, to seeing if the spot is still warm where she once lay and scratching in hopes of grasping lingering DNA. |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 12/10/13 at 04:00 PM Excellent poem, Steve. Almost like watching Hitchcock's The Birds on acid, though I realize this goes much deeper, and has a biting romantic edge to it. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 12/13/13 at 04:49 AM A fine piece of writing. I appreciate the squirrels' and birds' opinions and the wry self awareness in this. Thanks! |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 12/13/13 at 03:25 PM I can still relate to the feelings though I take daily steps closer to demise. Very well done! |
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