1977

before the afternoon fully arrived
absolutely nothing was askew
I knew this because there were no opinions, judgements, or prescriptives to act on
just the Front Yard laid out exactly as a Front Yard should be
treed and oak leafed and rooted and slanted down to the ditch and the road

then, original sin broke in
not the OT guilt-by-association original sin, but the OG guilt of resuscitation original sin
as I found the fledgling concussed and abandoned at the base of the long dead oak 

i picked him up and nursed him as much as an 11 year old could
and put him back in the nest, not knowing my scent was his demise

after the morning had completely disrobed and afternoon was fully revealed, I found him again, farther towards the veil than away from it
and the best I could do was sing him a song and put him back,
knowing his next failed flight would be his final

It wasn't the Muse's first stop, and maybe not her most important
but it *was* one of the most poignant ~
the pigment of the day still colours my memory *just so*,
and like a ghost's gauze I still hold the words and melody in
my otherwise well addled middle aged brain