On the Banks of the Dead Sea

(Published in Anthology of Prize Winning Poems, 2006)

On the banks of the Dead Sea
where my bathing suit and I lounge
sulfur-soaked, I eat a sandwich
as birds gather, sparrows, bulbuls, grackles
I throw them a morsel or two

One black grackle, orange-winged,
swoops down to feast
he invites his mate, black-brown,
not as handsome as he,
but otherwise a good housewife;
she is shy and disobeys

I attempt to entice her with more crumbs
as he flies up to her lookout,
crooning and coaxing
look, he says, in his sweetest tweet,
this is a trustful person

She considers, flies down, reluctant
I have ceased breathing,
silently cheer her on,
empathize with her feminine intuition,
her confusion, her desire to please

But no amount of food will do,
abruptly she flutters back up,
utters sweet distress cheeps and flies off,
he sighs and follows

Perhaps Mrs. Grackle has been traumatized
by a previous encounter with a cruel human,
maybe she would benefit from a session
with an avian psychoanalyst

So I muse, as I finish the sandwich
and the unafraid sparrows
eat Mrs. Grackle’s crumbs
and it is time for another salty dip
in the Dead Sea