Elegy

Elegy

As lovely
as this adorable fellow
appears,
he sits
in my palm,
floating
into whatever afterworld
little birds float to
upon hitting
a house window
at full throttle.

I heard
the telling sound—
thwackud!
from upstairs
earlier in the morning.
I had hoped
that like many
of his luckier pals,
this guy merely
boomeranged
and landed
in a dazed state;
with little cartoon stars
swirling
around his head
for a while until
he snapped to
and was able
to fly away.

In the afternoon
I stepped outside
to refill
my tree feeders
for the open woodland aviary
I have quickly created;
juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, towhees,
sparrows, finches, woodpeckers
and others
are on the dole
from the benevolent
Shapiro government.
The percentage
of my publishing income
going toward
raw oiled sunflower seeds
is growing
at an alarming rate.

I looked down
at my feet
as I passed a window,
and there
on the deck
was this beautiful
kinglet—
motionless.

I had actually
never seen one
before.
I consulted
my trove of bird books
to identify
this creature
that was gifted
with such beautiful markings,
and was no larger
than a hummingbird.

I hope
the next one
I see
is flitting among
the seeds
in the yard,
and that the reflections
in my glass house,
from which
I can see his world,
never tempt him
to leave it
to visit mine.

Alex Shapiro September 2007