by Marjie Giffin

A baby bird falls into our chimney, 
and its plaintive chirps disturb me 
as I lie upon the couch reading.

I know I cannot help the tiny thing, 
but as its cries grow weaker and weaker, 
my heart begins to thrum.

My husband says it’s just a bird, 
but my mind swirls with images 
of the condo collapse in Florida.

A trapped bird, 
calling out with its last beat of life,
evokes images I dare not let settle.

As I strain to hear 
and no more chirps resound,
I feel but an inkling of the despair of the loved ones 
who gather and hope and pray 
and wait until word reaches them 
that no more sounds can be heard. 

Marjie Giffin is a Midwestern writer who has authored four regional histories and whose poetry has appeared in Snapdragon, Poetry Quarterly, Flying Island, The Kurt Vonnegut Literary Journal, The Saint Katherine Review, The Northwest Indiana Literary Journal, Through the Sycamores, The Blue Heron Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, and the anthologies The Lives We Have Live(d) and What Was and What Will Be. Her first chapbook, Touring, was just published by Finishing Line Press. She’s active in the Indiana Writers Center and has taught both college writing and gifted education.