The birds don’t alter space.
They reveal it. The sky
never fills with any
leftover flying. They leave
nothing to tace. It is our own
astonishment collects
in chill air. Be glad.
They equal their due
moment never begging,
and enter outs
without parting day. See
how three birds in a winter tree
make the tree barer.
Two fly away and new rooms
open in December.
Give up what you guessed
about a whirring heart, the lttle
beaks and claws, their constant hunger.
We’re the nervous ones.
If even one of our violent number
could be gentle long enough that one of them found it safe inside
our finally untroubled and untroubling.