High-Risk

I.
i found a mess of a crow outside my shrink’s office
as there was no smear on the brick wall i assumed
it had been shot with a tiny bullet the head was a foot
away from the body sticking out of the ground
i took three pictures from different angles
read a transliteration of the mourner’s kaddish
and i sang the shema which i know by heart
then i said to my therapist you better remove that crow
or someone’s gonna kill themselves

II.
mom it happened again
i am standing over a robin outside my apartment building
i assume it died in the last 5 minutes
no bullet wound visible but head trauma is evident
it must have been struck from the air with a bat
by some sadist who lives in my building
the blood under its beak looks like a red pillow on the concrete
and the robin’s breast is more orange than the blood
i take three pictures and send them to my mother
she is not compelled by them so i read a transliteration
of the mourner’s kaddish and i sing the shema
which i know by heart then i call the maintenance man
who is not here so they send the receptionist with a bucket and a stick
i say to him, “you’re the guy, huh?”
he nods and starts grabbing at the bird
which i could not watch for long