“First Lift Here” by Taidgh Lynch

I remember the package you sent,
wrapped in shiny paper with a heart red bow.
I couldn’t hold down my joy.
I grabbed a knife,
blood bucketed, and I was left with wings
and the entrails of a nightingale.

With a voice full of glass
I broke the news to you
and said, I’m not violent.
I wouldn’t hurt anything as beautiful as you.
You said you’d send another.
You left instructions:
be careful,
first lift at designated spot,
careful, do not tear,
then take the nightingale slowly out,
listen to it sing.

~

This poem was first published in Bare Hands Poetry journal and in First Lift Here (JackPine Press 2019). Listen to Taidgh read “First Lift Here” on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/taidgh-lynch/first-lift-here