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Syndic Literary Journal

He With the Beating Wings

Narrated by Dove Rose

Washington State

HE WITH THE BEATING WINGS 

The lark has no tree 

the crow no roost 

the owl no setting place 

the nightingale 

no certain song 

And he with the beating wings 

no place to light 

in the neon dawn 

his tongue too long ago 

retuned 

by those ornithologists 

the state has hired 

to make sure 

the bird population of the world 

remains stable 

and pinioned 

There is no need 

to clip its claws 

Its tongue will do 

Tether the tongue 

and all falls fallow 

The wild seed drops 

into nothingness 

Tether the longue 

and all falls 

into silence 

a condition ever desired 

by tyrants 

not least of which is 

the great state 

with its benevolent birdwatchers 

with their nets and binoculars 

watching out for 

the wild one 

He that bears Eros 

Like a fainting body

He that bears

The gold bough

He

With the beating wings

 

 

 

Compiled/Published by LeRoy Chatfield
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