Three Birds

Three boys lost in the flood

Three families torn apart

Three stars over the wood

Three birds beneath the stars

One house turned to dust

Stone and bone and chalk and rust

One hearth dark as night

One aflame with raging light

She shot down the birds

Tied their feathers into her curls

Sewed their skins into a purse

To carry their hearts and vocal chords

She walked into the lake

Turned into a water snake

Burrowed beneath the sand and silt

Disappeared and lies there still

She climbed onto the hill

Spied her prey and made her kill

Summoned a storm, a joke, a thrill

Sent them to your window sill

Three boys lost in the flood

Three families torn apart

Three stars over the wood

Three birds beneath the stars