gracie in love

© Marianne Paul

it is easy to think of gracie as
a silver foil balloon        losing herself to the sky
the ribbon dangling through the air like
string from the crow's beak        in spring love crazily
in the air so that even the crow
acts like a bluebird and the crone
the schoolgirl

gracie giggles at the thought
of love at seventy      her hair at her sides
in pig tails                 elastic bands chosen
to match colour         and not even the crows can
explain this inexplicable behaviour         explain
the string from their beaks        their frenzy
the mad sweet obsession in their
      wings

she is like a flock of birds
in autumn after the lull
of summer         urge
filling the hallow at the
core of winged bones
jumpiness felt in feathers
and held in the dark of perfectly
rounded eyes