Preening
by Andrew Bailey
[ poetry - november 08 ]
a tiny bird - a dunnock
are you? - fluffed up
on our fence & preening
makes a triangle of itself
its tail one wing buries beak
in other wingpit, shickers
back to sleek again, scratches
with back toe, looks round,
head point to point with no
inbetweens, stretches
only forewings out
leans forward
hops some
gone
