hanging out after school
birds fly south in the winter
a kindergarten myth
once told
often sold
to unsuspecting souls
looking for a place to sleep
in the dead of winter
robins navigate
the snow & the salt
children empty buses
marching single file
watching mushroom movies
glazed eyes on the outside
looking in
even when there’s nothing to see
their wings tucked away
and unnoticed
to the untrained eye
angels sing in the choir
on a school night
auditorium standing room only
outside in the cold
wanderers with wings or not
listening in
november two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
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