Parable

They touch down and clatter on the roof at night—
the bird of fretfulness and the bird of despair,

the bird of remorse. The bird of still-trying
flaps its wings vigorously and makes all 

the windows rattle. The bird of let's-begin-
again perches on the far end like a tiny plane 

about to take off. The bird of marshalling hope
waves illuminated wands somewhere in the fog.