Six days after I put the Audubon Bumper
on the truck I noticed the difference
and Annie sitting next to me
on the way to town to buy chickens
which we’d just run out of
noticed the difference too.
That famous light, the sun
shone down on our faces
there was rain only this morning
yesterday it snowed
last week the drought ended
and so on as far back
into the past as things go.
Soon the poison will reach the heart
the outside will rush in
the brief moments like faces
which show no emotion
will approach and empty themselves
one by one into the past.
But Annie said the ride is smooth
it must be the Audubon Bumper
and suddenly a thousand birds
swarmed up in a wave
pouring out of the Bumper
into the air around us.