^{after Gwendolyn Brooks}

that which is betwixt us of the lampooned lips and noses
indissoluble as blood impassioned by a serene swatch of sky—

envy of the blessing of birds       and      the divine shadow
cast to provide protective canvas for our bones of calcified light

the chains that wore us in the fashion of diamond-studded pendants
and       the names that the ocean omitted from history with a wave

envy of the privilege of birds       and       the low-hung cumulus 
carried in baskets through the blistering heat by blistered hands

the wade into waters as stoic as windows during sudden storms
and       the burdens branches bore without snapping loose from life 

envy of the immunity of birds       and       the wooden instrument 
of spiritual salvation snared in blasphemous flames on front lawns

the holes punched into the balloter before their ballot was boxed 
and       the dialects curbing the confidence of compass needles

envy of the license of birds       and       the coldness weathered 
that is distinct from the weather met in thoroughly wintered towns

the hearty home made of a humble house stood up in hostile borders
and       the insomnia that hope prerequisites in its toilsome making       

envy of the prerogative of birds       and       the severity of the last 
syllable        or       even more so the softness of it when we say it 

siblingly in casual salutation—       lavishly each other’s harvest 
seriously each other’s business       envious of the birthright of birds