baleen
ovenbird
The
baleen
plate
lining
the
mouth
of
my
screen
door
refuses
to
perform
its
function.
Instead
of
keeping
the
creeping
-crawling
world
at
bay
it
falls
off
four
times
a
day
,
leaving
a
gap
between
screen
and
glass
through
which
all
manner
of
thing
comes
looking
for
home
.
And
so
there
are
spiders
in
the
bathroom
drinking
water
from
the
tap
,
noseeums
in
the
bedroom
searching
for
blood
,
daddy_long_legs
on
their
stilts
in
every
corner
,
ladybugs
decorating
the
windowsills,
flies
using
every
facet
of
their
eyes
to
look
for
rotting
meat
.
I
fix
the
door
endlessly
but
the
world
won
’t
stay
out
.
It
sings
up
to
my
balcony, begs
for
passage
,
makes
promises
that
heat
the
blood
and
stir
the
imagination
.
It
finds
its
way
in
when
the
light
starts
to
fail
and
my
diurnal
eyes
can
no
longer
see
to
swat
it
away
.
And
on
some
days
,
when
the
breeze
is
cool
and
the
sun
drifts gently
past
its
noonday zenith,
I
throw
the
door
wide
open
and
call
out
to
the
world
waiting
lustily
outside
and
recklessly
let
it
in
.
250721
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from