BIRD WATCHERS

Binoculars resting on the sill
Blackly inveigle us to look.
The luxury of observation
Rackety silk.
Cotton sheets abuzz,
I sleep with a mad bomber
In a bed too narrow
To contain explosives,
Eroding acres encroaching
Shores of receding flesh.
Grip off, I watch

Elfin hummers amok,
Flap-happy Mallards
Swarm a blustery afternoon,
Recall bionic gunrunners, East Van,
First day back from gangster land.
Recoiling at the forecast I fled,
Cramped in a compact car
Child piloting the wife. Blindfolded
Against your scrutiny, foiling
Implicit shame, I skirted
Roadblocks, sculpting my spine
Straight, forcing it

To withstand gales. Tolls.
Lousy steward, I drop
The argillite raven,
Gleaming abalone eyes divided.
I slap my back with hot plasters
So it may bend when necessary.
Fit inside. Repair.
When will listening
Reveal the shape? Scope. When
Will seeing decode the trick?