Some birds, to fend
against predators,
will fake a battered
or broken wing
to redirect
attention from
their young. If this
is evolution’s
best guess, well,
it’s not a bad one.
Just yesterday,
I saw a grackle
dragging a wing
like out-of-water
tackle, then rise
from a tuft of clover,
tracking with ripe
chokecherry eyes
as it flew up
and over me.
It lit in a maple
by a nest I’d failed,
at first, to notice—
a minor thing
to thank distraction
for, when it
came into focus.
Distraction Display
Nicholas Friedman
Feature Date
- June 6, 2018
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Copyright © 2018 by Nicholas Friedman
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission

May / June 2018
Manchester
England
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Deputy Editor
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