HOW TO WATCH A BIRD DIE

Take the dog out
early in the morning
notice the same Eucalyptus
how the crow is
still perched
half frozen
on the same mid-point
of the tree

notice how the claws are stuck
and how the back of your neck
seems damp
and full of sunlight
all at once

each day
tell yourself “it will be over soon”

tell yourself
that’s just the way nature works
tell yourself
it’s intrusive to do anything else

urge the dog to walk closer to you
instead of pulling
pulling you back to the tree
over and over

remind yourself
you have to get back and
make breakfast

imagine how peaceful
a bird looks
when it is finally
melting into the dirt

imagine
the ground is atonement
and the murder of crows
just taking flight
are finally free of sin

Connie Post served as Poet Laureate of Livermore, California ( 2005 to 2009). Her work has appeared in Calyx, Kalliope, Cold Mountain Review, Crab Creek Review, Comstock Review, Slipstream, Pirene’s Fountain, Barnwood International, The Pedestal Magazine, and Arsenic Lobster, She won the 2009 Caesura Poetry Award. Her most recent book, And When the Sun Drops, won the Aurorean Fall 2012 Editors Choice award.