i find her between the pine needles
cocooned under a nest of snow that never melted.
the body is cold, head tucked into her wings
held close to her body like a hug. i can carry her
in one hand but i use both, shaping
them like a prayer, like trying to catch
water before it trickles out through the grooves
left in the spaces of my palm. there is a scar on her back
i should have noticed. it is thin, a hairsbreadth
slicing down the length of her spine. it was always there,
from the first day she perched on my sill to the last
time she came searching for solace. she should have
been far away by now, flitting between new
branches over a lake that reflected the stars like
a second sun, her nest overlooking
mountains dusted with snow like powdered sugar,
her chirps echoing in the dead of night,
calling for her kin who would always answer.
but she was here the whole time,
and i never went outside to look.
