Maybe I should get a book,
Field Guide to Ohio’s Song Birds.
Or just a book with pictures and names
cross referenced and counted.
A book so that I can sound
educated and important,
sitting on the deck,
sipping wine and making small talk.
A book I can study
at night under the covers

so no one knows it doesn’t come natural,
all the feathers and sounds
identified as I point dramatically
at the sky.