Monk's Bird Book
By Ed Roberson
Mourning doves are not owls after a while
away from the city not because the country
appears of a softer feather less predatory
you're thinking a sound more naturally friendly
less edgy and dangerous than the subway
but because the
city city to city within itself so sharply
details for you actually walks you through
a training in the amplitudes of form
after a while that sharpness wipes the smile
the natural had you putting on everything.
Really owls are so soft their deadly
accuracy of flight depending on it
they are all but silent a recognizable law
nobody says shit you learn the city
has taught you to pick up on which wings
bring the disk of their sun for around
your neck each day
and which take you out;
and that your green act of good is natural
in that it too depends on the weather.
Copyright Credit: Ed Roberson, "Monk’s Bird Book" from City Eclogue. Copyright © 2006 by Ed Roberson. Reprinted by permission of Ed Roberson.
Source: City Eclogue (Atelos, 2006)