Anne Cook                                    

    Bird sang out before break of dawn  

          the day she got the news 

           what messenger sent him

                     go

                      now

       perch on a redbud branch

          beside the window

       where lace curtains stir

       in the salty morning breeze

                warn her

                   tell her

              life will change

           His cry lingers on

       in the back of her mind

  alarm clock humming in the distance

         a fingertip away

     meaning can't be measured

    whisper can't be silenced

       until the call comes

   before the angelus rings at noon