Three birds
were perched
on a telephone wire
clicking a message
I knew was for me
I couldn't decipher
morse code
and remembered
my brother loved Edison
Made a receiver
from copper wire
and tapped out time
Became a drummer
and the beat goes on
He's wild on the highline
a base walks in tandem
while that receiver
gathers dust in the attic

Three birds were perched
on a telephone wire
Those three birds flew
in a circle above me
so free I felt the air
from their wings
and they lighted back down
Three times they flew
in a circle above me
and lighted back down
I said under my breath,

Two birds
were perched
low on a locust tree limb
screaming a message
I knew was for me
I couldn't understand
and remembered
as a five year old
when the house
was being painted
I picked up a coffee can
of turpentine to smell it
Swallowed some by accident
Everyone was too busy
to hear my panic
I had the sense to drink milk
if only to remove that taste
from my mouth

Two birds were perched
low on a locust tree limb
Those two birds
cried in concern
In a field surrounded
by chain-link fence
a young bird
had fallen from the nest
She flapped her clumsy wings
and was lifted two feet
above the ground
then plopped to earth
My first instinct
was to try to save her
I couldn't traverse the barrier
I said in a mother's voice,

Those two birds perched
even lower on a locust tree limb
screamed a warning
not to interfere
I walked away knowing
somethings are better left
to their own devices

(c) Linda Gayton 2006