What if every paper napkin left by the roadside became a pearl-colored dove
every plastic cup tossed carelessly in the field changed into a chirping cardinal

colorful on-sale-now coupons anxiously waited to grow painted bunting feathers
tucked under newspapers that unfold to sing magpie, chickadee or blackbird song

kitchen bags lifting their fresh egret-white or heron-gray wings wide would soar up
then gaze down, as common paper bags morph, curling into sparrow, wren or titmouse

nearby, french-fry pockets begin to dart over the meadow, bright tanagers in flight
and yellow hamburger wrappers caught on thistle stems soon flicker themselves into goldfinch

as bluebirds and kingfish rise, iridescent from oil-spilled puddles
and orioles flit, born anew from orange juice cartons strewn across the ground

straws tossed to the mud soften themselves into wormy deliciousness
hurrying to feed these huge flocks of forgotten garbage, turning waste

into flocks of blessed birds going, going, gone, tossed, torn, fleeting yet
suddenly clouding this late-afternoon sky with their heavenly transformations

until, in one last, wild triumph, thousands of black trash bags race, ravening day into night
letting tissue-pale owls shift the constellations of our winged and delirious darkness?

Photograph: “Red Bird, Blue Bird, We’re All Screwed Bird”                                                  Sculpture of Found plastic and hot glue done by Thomas Deininger

I wrote this poem about a year ago and recently discovered this incredible artwork by Thomas Deininger. Look him up!