Out of Her Element

On a Cape May Warbler Who Flew Against My Window
Eamon Grennan

She's stopped in her southern tracks
Brought haply to this hard knock
When she shoots from the tall spruce
And snaps her neck on the glass.

From the fall grass I gather her
And give her to my silent children
Who give her a decent burial
Under the dogwood in the garden.

They lay their gifs in the grave:
Matches, a clothes-peg, a coin;
Fire paper for her, sprinkle her
With water, fold earth over her.

She is out of her element forever
Who was air's high-spirited daughter;
What guardian wings can I conjure
Over my own young, their migrations?

The children retreat indoors.
Shadows flicker in the tall spruce.
Small birds flicker like shadows —
Ghosts come nest in my branches.
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I loved the imagery in this poem. I liked how, in the first stanza, the poet wrote about the bird's untimely end. The bird seems to represent and symbolize the speaker's life; how the bird died so suddenly, and how the speaker's young life, a life without the restraints of children or responsibilities, died all too soon.