A MOMENT CAPTURED BY A JAPANESE PAINTER OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
SEEN IN A MOMENT OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN A
LONDON GALLERY
a plump black bird
not very attractive head feathers bristling from cold or wind
forcefully clings to
a nearly vertical branch
his posture tells us
that the branch
is being stirred by the wind
the bird stares
with small black eyes like seeds or buttons
at something outside the scene we cannot see