It was the silhouette
            of a raven in a
            watercolour
          The skull
            of a pied crow
            in the leaves
          A wasps’ nest 
            hung from the branches
            of a tree
          The stem of a feather
            and the bones of a bird
            are hollow
          This is our life
            the one that accumulates
            not the one of our dreams
          It leaves a record
            on our bodies
            and minds
          We saw the stumps
            of dead trees
            in the snow
          A leaf in a stream 
            was dried to its 
            skeleton
          A photo of a city
            taken from a satellite
            looked like a wasps’ nest
          We shielded our eyes
            and saw the bones
            of our hands
          This was
            the language
            of our thoughts
          We were 
            buried in 
            earth