and home i flew

and home i flew

the sun spread itself a red pupil
in a gold eye watering. i backed into

some peaches where a cukoo was residing,

amid the staggered ebony of shadows dying.

warblers dropped from where to land
on what, with such velocity, i barely caught

the tail of one before i raced to almost see

the eye ring of another.

a puffed out hummingbird paused

long enough on a median branch,

confused me---ruby throat, yes,

but white crowned, impossibly.

not safe to walk the main road

in the dark, i gathered the buckeyes
i had snatched, and heard far cows
bawling for their calves. the sun
gone, i hawked round in a
ditch where i found true north
in a clouded sulfur butterfly.