i may be lonely
certainly, i may be
but maybe,
surely
not as lonely
as the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
the last of his kind
that hurtled back towards
a tape recorder
playing a clip of his own song
that someone by the name of jacobi managed to capture
thinking, believing
that his songs had finally found their way
to someone like him, someone who knew
what it is to be
the last of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
the poor bird died the same year.
i imagine the shock of metal and plastic
waiting in place of feather and flesh
was much too great
for him to bear.
i may be lonely, certainly
but being as terribly selfish
as humans often are
i take solace
in not being as lonely
as we made the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō.
