Late Work
Oh I don’t know bub
should we migrate again this year
to join the river we birds make across the sky
south from Michigan to the Bahamas
or better to repair the nest we had built in spring
for one season under the jack pine near the house
would we make it through another migration bub
look at the hawk high like a bent stick in light before dawn
why am I no longer afraid now our young have left
us two in this once comfy nest now too large and now
while I philosophize bub and against your better instinct
you bring twigs and string and a red ribbon to feather our nest
Oh bub see the old man in the kitchen window
waiting for his pot of coffee before daybreak
if I could speak to him in the language I use for other birds
I would say cat got your wife no well then hop back in bed
bend against her warmth and get up later
that’s for me bub that’s for me
Randy Evans
