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.