And then they returned
those birds

to stratify
the sky

to incise
with wings

their variable
trajectories

and sometimes a sign
is actually a sign

like when one letter
burnt out so that

the neon spelled
a name

once spoken
still known

if barely
but no I’ve heard

that song before
it seems if anything

that hope precludes
action

and a chance
sighting

on the street
is only routine

entropy
hokum really

even today
I crossed someone

three times
by the OR then

the PACU then outside
under all this gray

and he was sad
each time

that’s all I know
and knowing

precludes hope
for sure

and it’s not
giving up

so stop telling
don’t

you don’t know
but he does

and how

and so do I
now