Soft weakness
gives to absorb the blows
Like some vague elastic stretched
over the chimney top
Stubbornly holding the black smoke in
Pigeons nesting and *******
Causing the thinning elastic
to cave in
further
White birds like the warmth of that sick steam building
underneath
Preening, oblivious
Hot weight questions the integrity of black edges
Mother bird stands at attention
Baby birds bicker, oblivious
Their hearts skip in unison when they begin to
fall
The smoke swallows them
and that black elastic