corbie agus fear

a black bird, wrinkles around its eyes
looks at me closely without blinking
asks why it can’t be the voice of reason
for generations of lost deplumed

i say maybe it’s ‘cos you look scary
like plague doctors of old who’ve lost their hats
and snip their beaks at prancing corpses
at generations of lost deplumed

that black bird, a noose around its neck
clears its throat, hysterically coughing
says it cannot die ‘cos it has wings
to spite generations of lost deplumed

i say maybe it’s ‘cos you haven’t tried
i’ve vast experience from which to teach
of dying and rising and decrying death
through generations of lost deplumed

and so the black bird shrugs, and it sniffs
it asks me if i have crumbs to feed it
i say metal ones, and then i shoot it
for the generations of lost deplumed

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

17 thoughts on “corbie agus fear”

  1. That last line’s a classic.
    In my garden I have blackbirds (the kind that sing sweetly & keep me awake at night)
    And I also have black birds (the kind that commit murder on my lawn and leave me with bloody remains)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Unbolt your Comment!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.