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Olivia Byard: First Bird

Olivia Byard

Jan 01 2016

0 mins

First Bird

 

Short beaked,

needing more than insects,

poor at digging in the ground,

it wakes in deepest night

to check ultraviolet light—

because worms

emerge in dark to mate, hating

light and sun, and writhing

earthworms make its early meal.

So a single hunting call

shatters silence with its spell

while dark still drapes

the sleeping world,

and carries

us from harm on a perfect pitch

of sound, across the risky wolf hours

into dawn.

Olivia Byard

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