cuckoo poem

it started with a shy romeo crow that day,
who dropped on my balcony
and peeked at me over its shoulder. 

then
i go to the shops for no reason
like i never do
and the street cleaners rev their deafening engine
a few footsteps from where
i find you - 
eyes bright and body supple,
warm and
freshly dead,
wings still spread open 
in a relaxed embrace of sky

immediately you steal my breath away,
leave it the shallow thread of trance

and everything slows
to that particular tempo 
of death taking charge

you evaporates my packed schedule
and i gently gather you into my hands,
like smuggling a refugee
from obscenely indifferent urban hurry

i love how these thresholds smother
an illusion of continuity,
with each minute
unmistakeably unique

your body’s still adjusting
to its new state,
stillness -
but movement continues,
as with microscopic slowness
your wings fold, 
closing the curtain over 
the white, wild dancing in your chest
that bared to mine still crackles like a tiny firework,
an excited farewell
twittered straight into my own bird heart
that understands it all 
but keeps it to itself 

i hold your fading warmth
while our hearts dance together in the vastness,
carolling,
and second by second
you fade

death slowly claims you with a surer hand,
brushes the shine from your eye 
tucks you into rest.

you are a marvel,
perfection in the line of your beak
and your soft skirts of feather
and i feel rushed like an unsuspecting bride,
to find salt, boxes, knives,
a great armful of flowers
that lend me courage by sheer flamboyance

till i am ready, trembling with honor
for your gifts

of intimate time

and an invitation 
written in open wings.

we meander our way to
a hidden cemetery i knew nothing about,
and gay towers of St John’s Wort show us
the place,
in the shade of a baby evergreen.

i happily pass you on
to the eager welcome of the flies,
who will fill you with yet more movement

while I talk of you to the crickets, the sun and apple trees,
wonder if you came to me
for this poem

and suddenly realize 
I can actually breathe again.