NEPHART.COM

Sometimes I think

what should I write about?

Should I write about a bird

lying on the pavement

early morning,

with the same expression

it might have worn

while flying freely

in the sky,

now dropped dead

in the middle of the pavement

while I leave for work?

Or should I write about

a dropped penny

under the seat of a bus,

which nobody wants to pick up,

like the bird,

which no longer seems

worth anything

to anyone.

The bird had worth

when it looked beautiful

in the sky.

Maybe it has worth

for the cat

looking for prey.

Maybe it has worth

for reasons

we don’t understand.

We are too busy

to think about birds.

It won’t come on the news.

A bird died on the street.

Police are investigating the cause.

No.

That never happens.

Even humans

have become digits.

Do birds count?

And what about

the pence under the seat?

What if it were

a pound?

Does the scenario change,

or are we too busy

keeping ourselves occupied

to notice

that these two things

are asking us

the very same question

about worth?