The Weight of a Dead Bird

What is the weight of a dead bird

minus a single feather 

or without its beak clenched tight.

The momentous weight of its wings

weighs more, you say

but I saw starlings free falling

without blinking

from the tip of the top of something

other than ground.

Standing firmly demands

the weight of light-footedness, 

nailed feathered steps

that have no memory.

Starlings sing in dreams of choirs

and I hum in muted voice

syllables to sound

together we create beauty

weightless free falling beauty.

Agrene Bouwman is a writer and sculptor living in the Netherlands. In both disciplines she examines the various aspects of transience and how awareness of it influences the human condition.

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