A Bird's Last Song

One day I woke up in my beautiful nest that I had built with
brown twigs gathered near the marsh I loved being in my green
tree near the crescent blue shoreline it was dawn and so I was
singing because life was good and I was free and so I dove down
to catch for my first fish of the day I hit the water before I could
stop myself when I saw it all of a sudden everything became real
clear my life as I had known it was gone my feathers were covered
in black tar and I couldn’t fly and I couldn’t fish and I couldn’t eat
and
no
one
came
to
help
me
and
so
I
died
all
alone
on
the
shore.
(This poem was written in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, from a bird's point of view. It is also a Memorial Day poem, the design in the shape of a flag.)