nests

[ellajam]

Hi, Anne, beautiful job on the edit, much clearer than before, it sort of hangs in the air as it should now. I just have one note for you to consider, the choice of "birds' joyful arias". Neither the sonics or meaning of "arias" seem quite right to me, more than one bird singing solos? I think you might want to search for a more perfect word as you have done in the rest of your edit. Thanks for the read.

NESTS  (revision 1)

When your home backs up to an alley
and the flowering trees are bare,
you can’t help but notice dumpsters
are a regular hardware store for resident birds.

Above the rot, their bodies rise and swoop,  
a flurry of life throughout the dead
cold of winter, before the last ice
finally melts onto the asphalt.  

Before green pokes through gray
cracks, beaks pluck loose burlap and twine,
the warp and weft woven into evergreens
across from second story windows.

We warm and feather our nests too,
scavenge stores and farm-field antique markets
for Pima cotton bed sheets, down-filled couches,
vintage mirrors.

Now that crabapple blossoms screen the alley
view, we open windows, emerge
like tulips breaking ground into the spring air,
and sing in concert with the birds' joyful arias.

*

Nests

Outside the back window, across the alley
the food coop’s blue recycle barrels
loaded with knocked-down materials
are a regular Home Depot
for the local birds.

Flying and swooping above the rot
and decay, they were a flurry of life
throughout the dead cold of winter
before the last of dropped freezer truck ice
had finally melted into the asphalt.

Before green began poking through the gray cement
cracks, their beaks plucked loose
burlap and twine from the piles,
the warp and weft woven into arborvitaes
across from second story windows.

To warm and feather our homes,
we humans scavenge too,
from West Elm to farm field flea markets
for the smoothest bed sheets, the comfiest couch,
a vintage mirror.

Now that the Flowering Crabapple blossoms
block the alley view, we open windows and peek out
from our cozy creations, smell the spring air
and join the birds chirping
in concert with the tulips breaking ground.