I wish I could sing
like Ronnie Drew
instead of sounding
just like you.

With a nickel
& a nail
the Thursday freight
he could derail--

foghorn from Goldfinch
to Joanna
from Elisabeth St.
to Valhalla

something a circling bird
discerns
in meaty terms,

what was said & not said,
a hammering on
an empty head.

Empress Citation Shasta
disturbeth not
the quails at their suppers;

though the lookout
shoots through
the sweet-pea undercoil

then squawks left six feet
for everyone else
it's just another brindle head

patrolling loose & low
for the grasses & chicory
of the trackside pharmacopia.