Magpie Woman

magpie woman

circles swooping

calling trailing

her long white

plumes across

the cold grey

parking lot

magpie woman

cackles shrill

bounce between

the buildings

screeching pain

pleading with

the mammals

magpie woman

calls for a dime

or finding

by chance a

bright quarter fallen

among the blades

magpie woman

circles again

coils into a

death roll

pulls up

tosses back

her feathers

arches

her

spine

lifts

her beak

to

the

sun

cries

("Magpie Woman" published by Notebook Magazine Iss. III)