Mourning Doves

Two dozen mourning doves

flocked to my front yard

for God knows what reason 

yesterday and the day before.

There they were when I went out 

to pick up the morning paper.

But today they were gone,

which leaves me wondering

what the attraction could have been.

And why did they come in a flock

and not in pairs or three at a time

which is the way I’ve seen them

on a hot summer afternoon

scratching around in the street?

And they were absolutely silent

except for the fluttering of wings.

All the time I was growing up

I thought they were morning doves…

like when I heard Marian Anderson sing

My Lord What a Mourning.

I thought she was singing

My Lord What a Morning.

That I had it wrong for so long

has left an uneasiness I can’t explain.