on a walk

Went walking

And the telephone pole wires

Swung down in front of me

A curtain that

Gave me privacy after life

Spat sparks into my hair

Jumped by thick, black cables

For only the second time since leaving the nest

Birds fall from their perch

Dropped dead

Like gum on asphalt

No chalk outline

No memorial

Just a one-word eulogy

I gave myself

Half in my mouth

Half out to the witnesses:

Two cats, six birds, and a dog

Still had more respect

Than when it was you