Poem

Single Red Crow by Stephanie Miller; for more information, visit
http://www.stephaniemillerartist.com
The day my teenager moves in with her father, I find an injured bird in the road
by Elizabeth Johnston Ambrose
Though probably infested or diseased
Though probably it would have pecked out my eyes
Though probably at least once it shit on my car
Though in the refrigerator we were marinating another kind of bird
Though the rules about which animals we eat versus which we love are arbitrary
Though for a year after I rescued our dog from the shelter, I became a vegetarian
Though I baked my daughters chicken nuggets made from soy
Though soy is probably worse for the environment
Though cancer ate our dog
Though I started eating animals again
Though I half-laughing made a rule: only stupid ones
Though birds have no qualms about yanking worms from the earth
Though I sank ankle-deep in sewer sludge for the Burger King cup to scoop up the bird
Though it flapped in iridescent protest and tried to scoot beyond my reach
Though I didn’t know what to do with it
Though where I nestled it in the tall grasses where a cat probably got it
Though maybe it didn’t want to be saved at all
Though maybe it intended to dive for the asphalt
Though the men in the garbage truck that rattled by as I squatted in the road
probably had a good laugh, knowing the difference better than anyone:
what can be salvaged
what to toss out
The truth is none of us are certain how best to be good
About Elizabeth Johnston Ambrose
Elizabeth Johnston Ambrose’s poetry and prose appear in The Atlantic, McSweeney’s, Blueline, Bark, New Verse News, and many others. Co-founder of Straw Mat Writers, she teaches writing in Rochester, NY where she lives with her partner, Brian, their teenage daughters, an adorable puppy, and three annoyed cats. You can find out more @libbyjohnston74 or http://strawmatwriters.weebly.com/elizabeth-johnston.html
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