Pestered by birds roosting and defecating,
The chattering static of the wind-honed summit,
The clusterers to heaven, the sun-darkeners –
Shouted a world’s end shout.
Then the swallow folded its barbs and fell,
The dove’s bubble of fluorescence burst,
Nightingale and cuckoo
Plunged into padded forests where the woodpecker
Eyes bleached insane
Howled laughter into dead holes.
The birds became what birds have ever since been,
Scratching, probing, peering for a lost world –
A world of holy, happy notions shattered
By the shout
That brought Prometheus peace
And woke the vulture.