December 2021
Alessandra Foster
gplusa@joimail.com
gplusa@joimail.com
Bio Note: I've been reading and writing poetry since childhood (a very long time ago!) Enjoy TCM and Hallmark movies and my sweet sixteen-year-old chihuahua/terrier. Been a vegan for forty some years. Published in Bramble, Ariel Anthology, and Verse-Virtual.
When Birds Fall Dead From Trees
News clip: India…temps exceeding
115 Fahrenheit degrees; mud huts
hot as ovens; birds in trees dropped dead…
like Icarus they’re falling,
not from arrogance or adventure,
but desperate for water and shade,
their only shelter withered leaves
this is heat that steals your breath
a relentless
desiccant
descent
to the center of the earth
to the ashes of wildly thirsting birds
they will not rise
mud huts hot as ovens
and we, too, will all fall down,
“ring around the rosie” for real
when birds fall dead from trees.
©2021 Alessandra Foster
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