Ibis chick

         
      
An ibis chick
its black fluff cap
not enough
protection against
dizzy fall
amid wild midnight's
fume and squall
lies at my feet,
pink membrane
of the nestling beak
and tender rose
membrane of feet
slackened in repose,
the eyelid
petals closed
as if in sleep
beneath a scraggy
cabbage palm,
bird as bud
in down and death.