Feather in Bas-Relief

Words without much use

now. Unable to remake

the thing. And I thought

what should I think—

followed by: spring light looks

like feathers. (Birds

seemed conveniently

decorous.) What then

does this leave I asked

& was surprised to know

so quickly—that my understanding

of what the light & birds

could not be made to mean

would not detract

from them as they

were. Bound by feathers

(a thought, I will admit,

born of artifice alone)

they bore themselves aloft.

What could I counter with?

I, who held my heart

in offering as much for

show as for a fear so deep

I found I couldn't name it.