It is a blind hole
That you pursue
And pursues you

Quite overwhelming
The vacuous cloudless sky
Without any birds

In the Aviary

The first thing you notice
Is the transparent roof
That lets in the sun
It does not need to prevent escape
Since the low flying birds
Glide unimpeded
Making their circles
Within the netted enclosure

Birds sit on rocky ledges
Staring, waiting
Other birds swim in the pool
Singly or in pairs
The space is full of squawks and cries
Reaching the sunlit top
The birds on the ledges scan
Looking, looking

Time is running out

Schopenhauer-
Renunciation of the will
To live
A turning of the ding an sich
Flowers fall to the left
And to the right
Birds arc away
Clouds are still
In gray light

The garden is empty

The lingering, festering
Wound
That leads to death
The wound from the bite
Of blood-soaked jaws
The wound that cannot heal
On its own
But requires a physician
Of paramount art
To root out all infection

When you were in distress
A crow came to adopt you
It hovered by your window
And swept across fields
Keeping you in its sharp bird’s eyes
Warding off enemies
Real and potential
It watched your every move
With the promise of protection--
A fantasy, a dream,
When you were alone
And in distress

Fall Risk

Everything that can fall
Will fall
When given the right
Opportunity
The sheer weight
Of gravity
And accumulated time
Presses down
Objects turn end over end
Papers scatter fluttering
In the air
The weight of memory
And emotion
Unsteadies the legs
As you move forward
On the broken road