BIRD ON A WIRE      (1-4-92; Jamaica Beach, west-end of Galveston Island, Texas)  

 
 
 
outside my window  
     theres a bird  
on a wire  
     who much like me    
is just sitting there  
     watching his world    
turning ever so  
     slowly on by  
but shortly  hes gone  
     flown away  on  
back to his  
     feathered life  
beyond all my  
     frail  limited  
human  
     assumptions  
 
i study the arrangement  
     of space in my room  
which seems to reflect  
     this space in my head  
presently  here at least  
     where these words  
are dredged up  
     by the sad    
lonesome tune  
     i am hearing  
in there  
 
     as the presence  
in our letters      
     slowly  increasingly  
fades more away  
     like the flowers  
of last spring  
     that old  once  
familiar  warmth    
     that we shared    
still somehow echoes  
     on in us here    
yet only seems now  
     to barely fill  
all our ongoing  
     long distanced  
co emptyings  
 
     so i continue    
to gaze out  
     my window  
watching my world  
     as it appears  
from here now  
     turning ever so  
slowly  on by  
     but like that  
bird on a wire  
     no longer here  
flown away  on    
     back to his  
feathered life  
     i too  may  
soon fly  just  
     far enough away  
from and beyond  
     the view out  
my window  
     the space in  
my room  
     this space  
in my head  
     all these dredged  
up words here  
     and the sad  
lonesome tune  
     im still hearing  
in there  
     amid all my  
frail  limited    
     human assumptions  
and these thoughts
     which began with
that bird  
     on a wire
yet somehow  
     or other  now
wound up here
     flown away  gone  
back to my
     featherless life  
with no good  
     clear ending
in sight
     still watching  
my world
     turning ever so
slowly on by