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I held a barnswallow in the palm of my hand

from There Is No Discord by The Hathaway Family Plot

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lyrics

I held a barn-swallow in the palm of my hand —
what a thrill!
It had been hit by a car, and lay struggling
feebly on the road.
It struggled some more when I picked it up,
but then lay still on its back,

feet down into its belly,
eyes full of fear.

What a delicate, beautiful creature,
so trim and perfectly shaped
for its life of skimming over meadows in pursuit of insects —
all buffs, yellows and tawny tones on its underside,
navy blue and sooty black on its whole top side.

What to do with it?

But before I had time to pursue this dilemma,
it began to struggle again and fluttered to the ground —
I picked it up,
set it right side up on my hand,
and all at once it took wing and sailed out over the meadow —

credits

from There Is No Discord, released August 30, 2023

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The Hathaway Family Plot Buffalo, New York

A pianist / hermit living in Buffalo, NY with a penchant for noise and weirdness. This is his attempt to put something into the world that doesn't sound like anything else. For better or worse. It's all CC BY-NC-SA, so use away for your non-commercial projects, though the musician appreciates when you let him know. ... more

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