BIRD OF NIGHT

a screen memory of her baby’s smile

all along and all the while

she tires with desires

her garden’s seen better days

oral-phases and dumb clichés

like grandma and grandpa

calls me up on the first of spring

the creaky-crack of her porch swing

i’m breastfed.

and cornfed.

hey ma, don’t worry, i’m alright

gotta spare case of philco’s dynamite

got my baby and she’s a bird of night

bird of night

a bird of night

hey, listen! ev-er-y-one knows who you are:

yr a spirit, a two-heart, a roller, a shaker, a widow, a daughter, a sister, an anchor.

keep yr heart in the future tense.

[am i comin’ through, am i makin’ sense?"]

hey ma, don’t worry, i’m alright

gotta spare case of philco’s dynamite

got my baby and she’s a bird of night

bird of night

a bird of night