Autumn

I suppose it fell in one
swift slice of tether

the sudden rush of robin-blue
from the jaded thrush of sycamore-

these hapless wings
awash in the fetterings of broken shell.

You came far after
the rest sailed south
on the bristled hush of winter,

made your nest
of moss and
beaded twine.

In that surly crag of slate and rain
there never was a song like yours

but I so loved your slender alto,
soft on the snow’s sharp drifts.