Daniel von der Embse

Secret Death of Birds

11/30/2014

The birds of earth are called to die in secret ritual
high, high above upon rooftops unseen

their wings last heaving, landing a silent perch
cooing in faint gurgle, eyes gently closing,

heads pulled inward, their bodies then transformed
to dust by God – never seen, never recorded

we have nothing to prove the secrets of their death
but the new flocks to return to earth each year

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Daniel von der Embse was born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, educated in Catholic schools, and graduated from Ashland University with a BA in theatre.
After a 37-year career as a copywriter for advertising agencies in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City, he began publishing his poems. They appear or will appear in Vine Leaves Literary Journal, The Missing Slate, The Laughing Dog, Decanto, Woven Tale Press, Poetry Pacific, and Poetry Quarterly.