Pigeons at Dawn

My Noiseless Entourage (2005)

Extraordinary efforts are being madeTo hide things from us, my friend.Some stay up into the wee hoursTo search their souls.Others undress each other in darkened rooms.

The creaky old elevatorTook us down to the icy cellar firstTo show us a mop and a bucketBefore it deigned to ascend againWith a sigh of exasperation.

Under the vast, early-dawn skyThe city lay silent before us.Everything on hold:Rooftops and water towers,Clouds and wisps of white smoke.

We must be patient, we told ourselves,See if the pigeons will coo nowFor the one who comes to her windowTo feed them angel cake,All but invisible, but for her slender arm.