An aviary of forms
at our fingertips
starlings aflight
in pixel murmurations
hummingbirds sipping
from morning glories
hovering on screens
in our underground homes
relics of a lost world
caught in silicon amber
embedded in language
lagging reality
the phrases we parrot
as we lark around
eagle-eyed, raven-haired
crowing our triumphs
as corporate vultures hawk
their latest gadgets
too chicken to swallow
their guilt, our guilt
ducking responsibility
for cardinal sins
feathered extinctions
nested in databases
flapping heavily aloft
in a digital swan song.
Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association and a three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers’ Award and the Rhysling Award. Her latest book is How to Navigate Our Universe, containing how-to astronomy poems. Website: marysoonlee.com.
Photo by Alexander Sinn on Unsplash
