The Trouble with Birds, The Takeoff, Sniff

The Trouble with Birds

A penguin will refuse ice cream and

Even if they had toes

Sparrows would not dip them in white sugar

To imitate the sand on a fog-covered beach

Nor will they just sniff a rose without eating

Finches rarely take off after causing trouble

Owls stumble around your living room late at night

Cockatiels letting music ring at high volumes

Until a rooster crows into the dawn

You catch them watching a DVD

All over the sofa

One of them somehow wearing your other boot

The Takeoff

Late into the morning,

My head in a fog,

I hear the noise of the birds. I smell

Faint traces of ice cream and sugar treats.

DVD still in the player, on repeat.

You turn down the volume, and I see

You waddling like a penguin

As you stumble around a ring of sleeping toes,

Trying to avoid the trouble of waking someone up.

You reach for your boot.

I sniff your scent as you pass me by

Once more.

I whisper, “Have a nice time.”

Sniff

DVD Volume

Penguin ring

Stumble

Late Ice cream

Boot

Toes

Sugar Fog

Trouble

Birds Takeoff

___

SALEM WOLF is a freelance writer and editor. She is a Wiccan High Priestess and married mother of two. Salem enjoys writing about relationships, emotion, friends and lovers, darkness and light, spirituality and the human condition.

When she isn’t reading, Salem likes exploring the natural world, collecting bones, stones and glowing things, drinking tea or coffee, animals, and family time. Posting on social media is rarely at the top of her to-do list; nonetheless, information and samples of her poetry can be found on Instagram and Facebook @salemwolf3.