Patricia Clark: “Feasting, Then Falling”

FEASTING, THEN FALLING

High in the canopy,
feasting, then

falling. A controlled
drop in flight

to a lower branch.
I watched

without understanding
with awe.

I’ve been shut in
those houses
too or blind
at work,
not noticing.

All the inattention
when a miracle
took place nearby

and could save us.
Do I really mean
save? You must

believe me—the feasting
on some tree fruit
high up—and the

bird?—I think
either a flycatcher
or a waxwing.

Such moves, so much
cascading, in
confidence, such lifting
of the beak to sing.

Yes, I meant save.

Patricia Clark is the author of five books of poetry, most recently The Canopy. New poems are forthcoming (or have appeared) in Plume, North American Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She teaches in Michigan at Grand Valley State University.

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