A squeak in the night
the molasses sky muting the silver stars
As they fell
one
by
one
onto the hard packed earth where we lay
unspoken words smarting in the darkness
lips flushed red with promises broken
and lies spread as thin as lip balm.
Their ungainly flight to escape
became a sharp distraction to my muddled emotions as they woke
one
by
one
to the smothered chirps of the baby birds.
Alone and abandoned
they mirrored my cries for help
and gently with hands accustomed to flesh not feathers
We gathered the small bodies in cacoons of towel.
A small barrier from the stalking squirrel
prowling the midnight branches.
Small ******* fluttering in panic
We soothed
and spoke in soft utterances
in contrast with our wheeling minds
and the rescue of three little lives
cleared the garbled words we choked on
until we could meet
clear gaze
clear hearts.
The soft whisper of the wind
carried away our pain.
And as the baby birds pleas faded to contented humming
our bodies settled into peace
and our minds into laughter
and love was once again
a precious gift