Collected Poems 20
Black Birds, Zuerich
Once at a concert
a trio of black birds played violins
they held under their wings,
while only the bows
with their broken white horsehairs
kept shooting up to the sixteenths and eights
Until a pause of four beats let them
Snap off the horsehairs that bothered,
Before resuming their flapping
In vain attempts to lift off
Out to the balmy summer darkness.
Black Birds, Zuerich
Once at a concert
a trio of black birds played violins
they held under their wings,
while only the bows
with their broken white horsehairs
kept shooting up to the sixteenths and eights
Until a pause of four beats let them
Snap off the horsehairs that bothered,
Before resuming their flapping
In vain attempts to lift off
Out to the balmy summer darkness.