Roar

Roar

All around the city sparrows fell
Pigeons lay like litter in the streets.
That's what it took to make us stop,
Look up and think
about the end.

Is this how it begins? Not with
a bang but a flutter? When I
came across the turkey on
the north fork trail I wondered
how long we’d have.

The clouds hung low, like
Dirty cotton in the sky
A nagging ache behind
My brow. I squinted
against winter’s
Stubborn glare. Is it too
Bright? Or is it darker
Now than it has ever been?

If God’s eye is on the sparrow,
Where is his ear? A thousand
Thousand feathers fall like
Prayers from the air.
And everywhere ~~ silence.