Winter Migrants

The sun was out and everyone
was wearing red green yellow knit caps,
orange blue white striped mittens—
Jen and Alex were playing with icicles
and calling them light-sabers, Jen said
she was the Jedi because her scarf was brown.

Then we heard the chk, chk, chk of
a hummingbird in distress and
the ginger tabby came stalking through the snow,
drops of blood falling from his mouth
like single feathers while his prey’s mate
dive-bombed him and all he did
was lay his ears back and crunch the little bones.

We caught him and made him let go
but of course it was too late and Jen
cried and said if she was a real Jedi
she could have saved the bird but Alex said
no, it was always too late and too cold
and hummingbirds are too small for the world.

Books Available
The Day of My First Driving Lesson
Country Well-Known as an Old Nightmare's Stable
High-Voltage Lines
Knocking from Inside