"Today while in the garden
My cat brought me a bird
I try not to raise my voice
She was oh so very proud

I very gently try to
ease it from her teeth
I implicate myself with nature
deciding to play god

My cat becomes distracted and
drops the bird like trash
I kneel down to scoop it up
she fits into my palm,

Shivering in fright,
but she is old enough to know
and to have lived at least one good full summer
enjoying flight

enjoying seed
enjoying song
with little bird friends
in the awnings of my home

I check her wings, like paper fans,
For punctures and find none
her tiny heavy breaths resigned and
gentle in defeat

I place her in the letterbox
with water and nuts
I leave her in the quiet dark,
to try and keep her calm

She swallows for her namesake
then she blinks and topples over
I check on her under the moonlight
but it seems to spook her more

I rise up in the morning and
I dress with anxious heart,
hoping that I'd find the bird
absconded in the night

Not prepared for Monday morning
clanging like a judge
When I lifted up the lid -
I saw her where she lay,

Frightened to death

Her claws weakly grasping at nothing
Eyes tight against her memory
so undignified

Her precious feathered heart never
recovered from the shock
I placed her in the garden bed
so she may join the flock"