Hush! hush!

Listen to the Varied Thrush

The freezing rain has

Pushed them down into the valley

With the rest of us

Flushed

From the comfortably lush

Forest floor

They draw their bows across

Serrated edges of

Musical saws and crush

The frigid, sharply pointed hearts

Of icicles like us

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush

Crush, crush, crush...

Swish! swish!

The Osprey hovers seeking fish

The glassy pond

Displays the menu but won't serve the dish

To birds who wish

To linger when

The air turns cold

Defying pressure

To defer to Cackling Geese

And Western

Gulls, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish

Wish, wish, wish...

Who doesn't wish they could

Begin

To leave?

Who doesn't wish they could

Believe

In letting something end?

We have these wishes

But we're hung up

On a superstitious

Focus on the family

We see in Collared Doves

With love much stronger

Than we probably

Should ever hope

For ours to be

Are we a "we are" today?

Will we be a "we will be" tomorrow?

Were we a "we were" already

Long ago?

We don't know

What price makes sense to pay

So we settle for indebted sorrow

Never knowing we could dine and

Dash into that nullifying snow

Thrash! thrash!

The so-called trash birds

Taking baths

Betray their cuteness

In the recklessness with which

They lash

Their lustrous feathers

Petroleum with flecks of ash

In an unseasonable

Puddle

Glaciating fast

Splash, splash, splash

Splash, splash, splash

Splash, splash, freeze

Splash, splash, splash

Freeze, splash, splash

Splash, splash, splash

Splash, splash, freeze

Splash, splash, splash...

Hush! hush!

Listen to the Varied Thrush

Hush! hush!

Hush! hush!

Listen to the Varied Thrush

Hush! hush!

Hush! hush!

Hush! hush!

Hush! hush!