The Singing

The singing

He brought me a cup
of water
and said ‘it’s on me’
with a cheeky smile
that would have charmed
the birds out of the
trees

Except we were in Borders
bookstore so there weren’t
any birds

Which just goes to show that
in modern life this saying
needs updating, perhaps along
the lines of

His smile would have charmed

—the pages out of the books

—the ice out of my over-iced
coffee

—the air I am trying
to breathe

—the boyfriend whose
name I can’t remember

—the winter out of this
first day of spring

Which brings me back
to the birds

How when we woke up
in my bed last week
with the grey light creeping in
the window
the first thing I thought
wasn’t
who are you or
why did we do this but

all the birds are singing.