The Babel of Birds

London underground
you eat your chicken sandwich
while waiting for the train

(the call of thousands of birds
pierces your chest
and there’s no escape
except in the illusion
of horizontal movement)

you gulp down the last bite
and there is sky erupting
from the gap
between the platform and the train

today you travel upwards
inside this tower cemetery of birds
inside this endless column
of Brâncuși.