Origami Bird

It was just like a collection

of origami birds, each emotion

folded and displayed,

the rook of anger,

the egret of disdain,

the swan of patience,

parade among the teapots,

a circus train to be

sampled and discarded;

today I’ll have the confusion,

tomorrow the dullness,

then perhaps a strainer of anger

and sweep it all into the

junk drawer with the

tape and elastics and pins

and detritus of a life just held

together..

Now let us fold this

egret again, more stately,

more carefully creased,

more able to stand on its own

among the crockery.

This origami life, intricate

and clever, the same sheet

folded into year after year,

waiting only an unexpected

breeze through a window case

to knock all into confusion.

updated by @peter-lewis: 01/17/19 02:47:46PM