murmurations of starlings
by Terri McCord
“the most subtle spooking will do it, a dog’s bark, the slam of a car door down the street”
Nautilus Magazine, March 4, 2020
To delight in the scattering
a heavy sea spray
a funneled sky ash
an old-time amusement
park ride
The covetousness in the blue
tearings and mendings
above us
the quick repatternings
Possibly 100,000 in a winter flock
To start, too,
at the slightest wind-shift
Feel the air grapple with birds
A South Carolina Arts Commission literary fellowship recipient, Terri McCord has work forthcoming from Lucky Jefferson, Panoply, Orchard Poetry Review, Slippery Elm Literary Journal, Black Lily, and Coast Lines Anthology.
