To Kill A Mockingbird-For Harper Lee Poem by Clyde King

There was a mockingbird
Or catbird as we call it in the South
Lying on my patio

It must have flown into my
Pool cage through a hole
And broke its neck in a panic to
Escape I surmised

My dog saw it first and she
Was poking it with her paw
As if it would get up and fly away
If she did it long enough

But it didn't get up
It was dead but the body
Was stilll warm

I picked it up and I couldn't
Find any signs of how it died
It broke my heart to look
At its soft gray and white body
Black legs, black beak and
Black holes for eyes

Something happened that day
That had no explanation
But something was lost-

The life of a bird
It's beautiful singing that
As legend has it was learned
By hearing Eve sing

A time when we were pure
Free and innocent
Before the darkness fell
And we lost our way
As Scout Finch did

Maybe a Boo Radley
Will show up just in time
And save us from being
Destroyed by it

Maybe not
I buried the little bird
And buried my heart with it
Nothing will ever be the same
Just as it was for her

June 2019