mourning dove

today she finds the feather on her driveway

dark and grey and translucent blue

floating down from a crystal clear sky

she twists the remnant of life in her hands

and she understands why the doves mourn, why

they release haunting calls from telephone wires

the world coats her fingers with death

and she learns to grieve when her cat

stumbles down the stairs on creaky joints

and her mother says with teary eyes

“i don’t know if he’ll survive tomorrow”

this is when she tastes death

when the stench stains her palms

when she looks in the mirror and sees

only her own bleak reflection staring back

the sky grows dark with thunderclouds

she gazes out the window as the raindrops patter

down from above and streak along the glass

she cups her hands to catch the flow

and drinks sips of the earth’s pain

it tastes like vinegar slipping down her throat