Remember That Morning?

These words form a house
Finch fledgling that flew
In through a window
Early this morning.

These words shape the cat
That flew out of bed
To snatch the trapped bird
That shrilled through the house,
Shrieking and panicked,
Early this morning.

These words say a child
Jumped after the cat
And raced through the house
And tackled the cat
As it snagged the bird
From under a chair
Early this morning.

These words use the man
Who typed them to tell
He let the child nurse
The hurt bird she held
Away from the cat
Tossed out of the house
To hunt for itself
Early this morning.

These words were the words
That haunted the man
Who hoped the bird lived
So his child could tell
The story one day
Of the bird she saved
From the cat she loved—

The bird that grew up
To eat from her hand,
The cat who grew old,
Too sleepy to hunt,
Who slept on the lap
Of whoever sat
In the house where words
Refused to admit
Anything ruined,
Any animal
Horribly hungry
For any other,

House where each creature
Lived calm and well fed,
House among birdsong
And cats and these words

Who knew how to care
For everything said
So everyone could
Live to remember
This early morning.