ELEANORE KOSYDAR

Mysteries of a Fossil Feather

What bird

were you

of this delicate feather

and how did you die?

When did you live,

over what land fly—

where nest,

and under what skies?

Did you once alight, alive

upon this rock

where now a single feather

lies ossified?

Was your flight

adart with flits and dips,

or a long, smooth glide

of finely tuned wingtips?

Were you blue

with white-tipped wings,

did you warble,

did you sing?

Were you tiny or large

or merely a wisp

of angel dust and stars?

Eleanore Kosydar

Note: This poem was written in response to Feather

Fossil #2, a painting by Cora Brittan in the

Carnegie Gallery