Owls

Owls have such sharp hearing,

they can hear the heartbeat of a possum.

How did humans lose our ability to hear

the rhythm of each other's hearts? 

To treat each other

like we are already dead and fail

to feel a pulse?

Lately, the birds in my backyard

have been louder.

Right now, one calls out in a repeated melody:

an arpeggio in a minor key—

three notes descending…

Please

Hear

Me

E,E flat, C