'Daw' In The Snow by Alan Remfry

'Daw' In The Snow.   A bird fell to earth. Black crack in the snow. Moving sharp. Moving slow. Beating out a sky torn track.   It is still, like cold air. Coddled under a tree, hiding in a shallow scrape, of its own making.   Black folds white, folds back. Pressed to the earth. Waiting. Ice feather forms. Once seized. Helpless.   It protests, slight shivers. Opens a silvered beak, rasps in harsh protest, rattles its black tongue.   Confined in a bird sized space. Wingtips brush the very edge. A large brown box, of our own making.   We tend to this stranger. Stale bread and warm water, may sustain it. Alone, in the garden shed.   A night of edgy bird sleep. Inside that silence space, twinned with darkness. In our 'Daw' dreams, it does exist.   An urgent phone call. We make arrangements. The weather clears. A Van arrives, for the brown box with the bird in it. - Alan Remfry lives in Durham. He writes crime novels, short stories, plays and poetry for adults and children. Presently, he is working on drafting a series of children’s fantasy novels, while researching background ideas for new plays and scripts. He enjoys going to the cinema, baroque music and hill walking. 'Daw' In The Snow was shortlisted for the Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2016 in the Poetry category.