The Tallest Tree

The robin calls, the robin sees The robin flies to the tallest tree The tallest tree so far from earth The robin watches from the highest perch The highest perch, the longest view The robin watches me and you Me and you, them and them Observer of maelstrom She turns her head towards the brine A lifeboat caught in the salty swell The salty sweat of desperate souls Lives preserved by hull and stern A jouncing head, with begging eyes Grasping hands that scrape the side Despite more flesh than boat can bear Of course they could not let him die And in the night that closed that day, with beak in wing she dreams Of Africa, desolation, thirsty, sun-scorched fields Crops sent o'er to feed the fat whilst mother's milk runs dry This time in the lifeboat, the rescued shut their eyes The robin calls, the robin sees The robin flies to the tallest tree The tallest tree so far from earth The robin watches from the highest perch The highest perch, the longest view The robin watches me and you Me and you, them and them Observer of maelstrom Her eyes fix on a distant cry A hooded child with arm aloft Alarms and sirens mask the crack Cheers and smiles as brick hits glass A swarm of bats with cloak and shield A flock of magpies hoarding junk The nest of things soon boarded up And looting birds caged up The second night, her sleep disturbed by visions of a street Where crows in pinstripe uniform, gather to repeat The systematic ruin of the commoner's nest egg To feast upon their bonuses and then freely fly onwards The robin calls, the robin sees The robin flies to the tallest tree The tallest tree so far from earth The robin watches from the highest perch The highest perch, the longest view The robin watches me and you Me and you, them and them Observer of maelstrom