Where the birds come together is a tree,
joined by auspicious aeriality
it’s easy to imagine what they see
perched above the ground, looking down
The females dark colors and the males crown
show you’re looking up and they’re looking down
to them it’s not amazing or even profound
suspended in a tree, safe where they’re free
One day it simply occurred to a child
after he’d stood under a tree for awhile
to find out what it’s like to be higher
and so inspired, he started to climb
Then looking down as if he were a bird
realized that by taking someone’s word
without searching for the truth was absurd
but feeling vertigo, he climbed down slow
That night as he tried hard to imagine
the long days events and where he’d been
he realized that he’d always been weak
a stupid freak constantly out of chic
Wanted to return to his embryo
Or perhaps run away to Tokyo
Jumping out the window seemed apropos
for a boy so high he needs to be low
--
Timothy Lee Russell (c) 1997