Birds

Spring
The time of year when tourists shiver on the beach
And baby birds begin to fall out of the sidewalk trees
Sometimes when it rained
We′d grab a fifth and find a place to watch the planes
One night, we saw a Boeing trailing flames
And you said, They make it or they don't

You bought a point-and-shoot
To try to document your visions of the truth
Cut your teeth on gritty portraits for the local zines
Snapping everywhere we′d go
We rode to Coney and you shot a couple rolls
And the boney kid who broke my nose was glad to
Pose biting on a bodega rose

Then we crashed on the train
I woke up and saw the sun rising
With your head on my knees
And I closed my eyes

I saw a flicker of your face
Above the candle with a sticker of a saint
Lit a cig and then you pulled me into the smoke
Then I was driving in the snow
You and Nick were scared, yelling where to go
But the Firebird was skidding all over the road
I said, Damn thing's dancing on its own
We make it or we don't

Passed out on the train
I woke up to find the sun blinding
You were still sound asleep
So I closed my eyes

(Then I was walking in a hazy field near where I′m from)
Passed out on the train
(I′d just clipped my first dove with my father's shotgun)
I was bleeding in the sunlight
(I found her among the sunflowers, still flapping her wings)
With your head on my knees
(I scooped her gently into my hands, and I set her free)
And love on my mind