“Flight Speed” by Lesley Strutt
from the 2018 Poem in Your Pocket Day booklet

yellow finch sun-framed the window smeared
with the wet eye of a woodpecker
lying on the stones now    neck broken

no wonder I take off for weeks on end
“What are you looking for?” you ask

I want flight speed when I don’t stop to think
I can get anywhere fast    fling myself at my own reflection
find something good and hard