Oiseaux Tristes

Corey Miller

It takes one hand to imitate : the unabashed kids
fucking in their car : a bird on piano : near a spur line
in the woods : but you hear a flock : j told me
he frequented this spot because of vigilant parents : on the other hand :
because his girlfriend’s orgasms were surprisingly quiet : and another forest :
the mockingbirds and whippoorwills and stridulations : in the extra keys :
helped fill up that vacuum : it takes one hand : I told him
have some respect for yourself and shag behind a Red Lobster at least :
to see : he called her anthracite eyes and I admit
I used that on a few women myself : by the end : but not after :
you’ve forgotten : his anthracite eyes drowned
in a strip pit during some graduation partying : the con fuoco
comes early : she ran over the cup of that name : as to appear
less : he swears they weren’t that drunk but it was too dark
you have to understand he said I loved her : ostentatious by the end :
he never went back to the strip pit but held a vigil
at the railroad spur : some landscapes for the ear : he placed a shoebox full of notes
in the creek and cast it on its way : until the cadenza : like an incombustible
Viking funeral : starts to kick in : I squinted and stared up
at the old coal tipple until the stars looked man-made : you remember :
and the mine was operational : the keys : he said he was sure
if the birds would shut up : again : he could hear her