by Jocelyn Mrotek

In a storm of colors, away they flew

But there was beauty in their chaos too

The eagles went

And I knew it was bad

I missed them dearly

The spirit they had

The birds that stayed

Weren’t there for long

The air vacant of noise

The chirps, their song

The crows, they came

I was overjoyed

But there was nothing for them

All crops destroyed

So like the others

They left me here

Alone again

My mind was clear

At last I saw

A lone bird fly through

A vulture now

In the shape of you

I tried and tried

To shoo you away

But you told me

You were here to stay

I believed you then

And I let you in

I had nothing more

Beneath my skin

And I really did believe it true

But you buried deep

And found a clue

A little chick

So weak, and blue

You couldn’t know how grateful I was 

For that little bluebird

All because

I had lost my birds

A long time ago

And all that time

How I missed them so

But then you showed me how to find

This little bird

Shoved deep inside

But before I could thank you

Off you took

With my little bluebird

Sparring one last look

And I should’ve known 

You were a vulture and all

But I wanted to trust you

To let myself fall

And now, truly, there was nothing left

So I sat right down and wept and wept

For all the birds I lost

And the one you kept