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