What If I Told You

By Pam Bolton and Kathleen MacGregor

What if I told you

It was me?

I picked up the stone

And threw it

At the bird’s nest

And knocked it down

To the ground

And all the babies died.

What if I told you

It was me?

I took the jumping mouse

From the jaws, the paws

Of the cat

And held it

Warm in my palms

Until, hours later,

It died.

What if I told you

All day yesterday

I didn’t care

And the day before

I can’t remember

Where I was or

How I felt?

I wanted to be somewhere

Else, anywhere

And I was.

I was in the nest,

On the ground,

Dying,

In my own palms.