Paradigm Shift by Jason Fisk
The sun waltzed across
the planks of the deck
peeking from between
the dancing leaf shadows
and I steadied my four-year-old
as he stood barefoot on the railing
and we watched the bird
feed her three fledglings
dropping earth colored worms
into their begging diamond shaped beaks
Where do the babies go poop and pee? he asked
I guess they go in the nest, I said
That’s gross, he said.
It is, I said, having never
thought about it before
Now
watching the birds
in their nest
is more real
and a little gloomier
Jason Fisk lives and writes in the suburbs of Chicago. He has worked in a psychiatric unit, labored in a cabinet factory, and mixed cement for a bricklayer. He was born in Ohio, raised in Minnesota, and has spent the last 25 years in the Chicago area.