What the Pigeon Said

here's a recent one, from a four-part sequence called 'Three Parts Pigeon, One Part Human.'

the world pours out of and over itself.

in choking surfeit,

clatter and froth,

dust and feathers

   and harder things: beak and claw

and faith.

                 I have always been one

    to float

on prayer and expectation

but the pulse of the crowd

necessitates savoring 

a single seed, a square inch or two of space.

red eyes, iridescent neck,

head moving

                          with each step

                                                     like a leather-worker’s awl:

I am some wonderful dancer. I am some wonderful dancer.

though flight is within easy reach,

I wrap my heart

in a shawl of wings,

scratch at the hard ground

and ignore how much of me

it already contains.