South

good fortune
of the eyes
took over

you used to wear glasses
for distance
you engaged
in abstract thinking

while sparrow and redstarts
saw with their feet
and dreamt of walking
without fear
of touching ground

yet knowing that dreams do not confront

the real cat hidden in the clover
they fluttered their feathers and took to the air


phrase eye sets flight
sculpts the wing
describes paw track    tendons
relieves light touch freely

fractured burr
one spot of green
they settle and forget

their pantomime

suddenly mistakes drift down through branches
old plums, love letters, cotton parachutes
a portrait of you sitting on the wall

the sound of dead leaves is
a chance

—a meaningless chance-rattle in the chill
and the ringbirds scatter
sketching a flight on blue paper