Stray Birds I Stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away. And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh. II O Troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words ...!!! Uprooted . It took all our weight to drag the chain over the stump, my brother and I heaving links heavy enough to strangle hope. Our hands lost in grandfather’s big work gloves, slick grass betrayed our bare feet. The tractor vibrated low. Hummed , screeched, and began humming again. Smoke marbled gray the blue morning. Where we once played king-of-the-hill on the stump’s weathered face, we now played Judas with an iron-linked kiss.