a terrible angle

Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

a bird flies
into the glass panel
on the fence
in my front yard

it breaks
the silence of evening
like the clap of a broom handle
falling on kitchen tile

he lands sideways
in the crab grass
and orange poppies growing
on top of the septic tank

his feathered bulging
body pulses rapidly
his head tufted yellow
cocks at a terrible angle

i want to help him
gather his gray fluff
in my hands and set him up
on his spindly feet again

all this dying happening
right in front of me
and there’s nothing
i can do about it

i stand here
pray and hope
the radiant heat
from my chest will reach him

i move in close
to bear witness to
another creature dying
perhaps that is enough