Probability and Birds
The probability in the yard:
The rodent keeps the cat close by;
The cat would sharp at the bird;
The bird would waft to the water —
If he does he has but his times before.
Whichever one he is he’s surely marked
The cat is variable
The rodent becomes the death of the bird
Which we love
dogs are random
Copyright Credit: Russell Atkins, "Probability and Birds" from World’d Too Much: The Selected Poetry of Russell Atkins, edited by Kevin Prufer and Robert E. McDonough. Copyright © 2019 by Russell Atkins. Reprinted by permission of Cleveland State University Poetry Center.
Source: World’d Too Much: The Selected Poetry of Russell Atkins, edited by Kevin Prufer and Robert E. McDonough (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2019)