“Half the day I searched for what was lost,” 10/15 from 21st Century Retablo. 11.7″ x 16,” mixed-media on archival paper, 2005-06. Permanent collection, USC Fisher Museum of Art.

POEM:

half the day I searched for what was lost:/
book of stamps    keys to the house    your wedding ring/
I found a half-born blue jay by the back door/
feathers more like fur    eggshell splinters scattered over/
a burning body/

held in the crux of my hand   the jay shivered as a new-/
born   the heart fluttered   beat asymmetrical rhythms/

above me in the still-bare arms of an ailing tree/
two jays screamed      took flight        left me/
to wash my soiled hand/