David Hanlon

Bird/Origami Bird/Leaf

On my morning jog to the nearby lake, I traverse
the pathway through wet woodlands,
my feet drawn to a midway halt
at the adjacent water’s edge.
All the trees are thinned
from spilling
autumn gifts. Everything has fallen,
unhusked, mulched.
I spot a bird floating down the river, it’s small,
not a chick or a duckling though: it appears
fully formed. I step closer:
wait! Isn’t that an origami bird? I inch
even closer,
realize it is a crisped leaf;
gliding atop: it flows
away:
gone.

I know that fate
too well.

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David Hanlon is a Welsh poet living in Cardiff. He is a Best of the Net nominee. You can find his work online in over 50 magazines, including Rust & Moth, IceFloe Press, and Amethyst Magazine. His first chapbook Spectrum of Flight, is available for purchase now at Animal Heart Press. You can follow him on twitter @davidhanlon13 and Instagram @welshpoetd

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