A Circle of Friends,
               Forms from Two
               Mends a Life
               Of a baby so New.

               Dead sticks, live Flowers
               Red as beach Tea
               Join poetry’s Powers
               To keep a bird Free.

               Allow unbelieving Maeve
               And her friend of crushed Stone
               A life they both Save
               Joins two friends, never Alone.

               Deflection #1
               Protects Two
               From the Evil
               They Undo.

          Nothing happens. Sandy is devastated. “It has to work, it has to work,” she moans. The mother bird’s frantic calls wither to a resigned mourning.
          “Maybe you need to say it with me?” Sandy questions.
          April is about to say ‘no way’ when she sees the look in Sandy’s eyes. April mentally shrugs and thinks, What’s it going to hurt.
          “OK, Sandy.” They join hands instinctively. April tries to repeat thewords. They feel foreign in her mouth. She especially stumbles over the name ‘Maeve’. It slurs around her tongue and past her lips to escape into the cool late afternoon air.
          At the end of the poem, nothing happens. Sandy is crushed. She sinks her head down close to her knees and begins to cry; tears wetting her jeans.
          April feels awful. She reaches out a hand to touch her friend’s