Gone sour now
Bleating motherless across the pasture
Birdsong through the dank gray
Young thrust into last year’s nest
Done weary, sobbing cold.

Infantile scream
Painless through repetition, only,
Now and then and always?
Dark lights sigh out and let dim.

Falling star
Stripped of the sky, where are you?
Jewel in the earth, forsaken,
Burnt out now, tripping green in decay.

Burnished throat
Caked with platinum, silver, or lead
Bed of birdsong decimated
Crane’s love-blood, preventing.

Burden on my back,
You stoop and stumble, too
Shriek-less cry inward
Pitying poison.

Prostrate
Swept to earth like a beached whale
Wailing, world-weary warmth to the sky
Alone, forsaken in the sand

Wrapped up in dripping arms
Cupped in each gentle hand
Breathed upon, rushing soft-feeling wind
Found in the Garden, the bosom of Abraham.