In life
its temperature would be 107° degrees
I found it dead on top of the snow
I put it
in a small jar from Oregon huckleberry jam
hoping it would feel at home
Tonight
I carefully opened my refrigerator freezer
and warmed the jar in my hands
This bird
with its cloak of frozen green feathers
will never fly away from me
Penelope Scambly Schott is a past recipient of the Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Recent books are ON DUFUR HILL and SOPHIA AND MISTER WALTER WHITMAN.
