4 and 20, elucidation

mental note:
birds are resting, watching
on wires all over this city

a race is on
a race we must
fearlessly run

our place is given
we wait ready
for the signal

we will charge until
the handoff is received by
a new generation of runners

life. this is the glory:
that we may bear
and pass a baton


Shakespeare (in his day)
took up one of his own
gleaned from the cries of
tavern dwellers requesting song

he wove their language
to make his tale palpable,
relevant, then passed his wand
to those who would reach:

Act II, Scene III
Twelfth Night
“Come on, there is sixpence
for you; let’s have a song.”

Beaumont and Fletcher
were willing, weaving his wit
within, then handing the lot
into the willing arms of humanity
who would take it and run:
Act V, Scene II
Bonduca
“Whoa, here’s a stir now!
Sing a song of sixpence!”

Hence,

sing a Song of Sixpence,
A pocket full of Rye,
Four and twenty
Blackbirds,
Bak'd in a Pye.

When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish,
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting-house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
There came a little blackbird,
And snapped off her nose.

on wonderment:
medieval illusion
an offering from the host,
set live birds waiting inside
a pre-cooked crust willing to
fly free with the first cut

on time:
if the king is sun
if the queen is moon
24 blackbirds will
echo the hours
in our days
calling us to use
time wisely
for the hours, they fly

on genealogy:
what if, for our time,
blackbirds are community
connected by the transitory
shell of a pie, connecting
briefly, preparing to fly

on education:
blackbirds, blackbirds
nestled in a pie

flap birds, flap!
seek the giver of good rye

huddled in bleak shelter
dreams will surely die

flutter clumsy wings
toward the wide blue sky!

tethers disappear
soaring with the wind on high

willing-winged, reach beyond
four and twenty fly


“A song of sixpence?”
Now there’s a stir.