The Tallest Tree

The robin calls, the robin sees
The robin flies to the tallest tree
The tallest tree, so far from Earth
The robin watches from the highest perch
The highest perch, the longest view
The robin watches me and you
Me and you, them and them
Observer of Maelström
She turns her head towards the brine
A lifeboat caught in the salty swell
The salty sweat of desperate souls
Life preserved by hull and stern
A jouncing head with begging eyes
Grasping hands that scrape the side
Despite more flesh than boat can bear
Of course they could not let him die
And in the night that glows at day
With beacon wing she dreams
Of Africa, desolation
Thirsty sun scorched field
Crops sent on to feed the fat
While mother's milk runs dry
This time in the lifeboat
The rescued should fight
The robin calls, the robin sees
The robin flies to the tallest tree
The tallest tree, so far from Earth
The robin watches from the highest perch
The highest perch, the longest view
The robin watches me and you
Me and you, them and them
Observer of Maelström
Her eyes fix on a distant cry
A hooded child with arm aloft
Alarms and sirens mask the crack
Cheers and smiles as brickets glass
A swarm of bats with cloak and shield
A flock of magpies hoarding junk
The nest of things soon boarded up
And looting birds caged up
The second night asleep disturbed
By visions of a street
Where crows in pin-striped uniform
Gather to repeat
The systematic ruin of the commoners' nest egg
To feast upon their bonuses
Then freely fly onward
The robin calls, the robin sees
The robin flies to the tallest tree
The tallest tree, so far from Earth
The robin watches from the highest perch
The highest perch, the longest view
The robin watches me and you
Me and you, them and them
Observer of
Me and you, them and them
Observer of Maelström
Observer of Maelström
Observer of Maelström