Three Birds
Sam Genders
Three boys lost in the flood
Three families torn apart
Three stars over the wood
Three birds beneath the stars
One house turned to dust
Stone and bone and chalk and rust
One hearth dark as night
One aflame with raging light
She shot down the birds
Tied their feathers into her curls
Sewed their skins into a purse
To carry their hearts and vocal chords
She walked into the lake
Turned into a water snake
Burrowed beneath the sand and silt
Disappeared and lies there still
She climbed onto the hill
Spied her prey and made her kill
Summoned a storm, a joke, a thrill
Sent them to your windowsill
Three boys lost in the flood
Three families torn apart
Three stars over the wood
Three birds beneath the stars