"Golden Shovel for Trayvon Martin (Feb. 5, 1995 – Feb. 26, 2012)"

 

            after Carol Ann Duffy’s “Prayer”

 

 

Dear Audobon Society:

 

I would like to participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count, your annual citizen-science project that tracks the migration and population of native species. I have a few questions: Why only in February? Do dead birds count? What about caged birds? Should I look beyond my own backyard?

 

Sincerely,

A Watcher

 

                        ***

 

How do we ID the birds we see? Some

 

confuse fledglings, juveniles, adults. Some days.

 

Most nights. Rain swallows the notes, although

 

the call always ends with a cry. Flap, flap, glide. How do we

 

number our sorrows? If we count sparrows, crows, we cannot        

 

forget black-hooded martins. Pray     

 

for the Baltimore oriole, say a

 

finch will carry the weight of our prayer

 

on its wings. Say a mockingbird matters, utters

 

its echo to the leaves, gifts its throat to heaven itself.

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