David James’ second book, She Dances Like Mussolini, won the 2010 Next Generation Indie book award. More than thirty of his one-act plays have been produced from New York to California. He teaches at Oakland Community College.---------
A Little Known Fact
“A dead hummingbird was reported to have been found in the pocket of a dead man in the Sonoran Desert.”
from Harper’s, “Findings,” March 2013
It’s an obscure, ancient suicide technique—
capture a hummingbird and place it in your pocket.
In its attempt to escape,
the tiny bird flutters and buzzes back and forth,
and you’re lulled
into a trance. You forget
whatever life you had, your brain slate
wiped clean. You lie down, close your eyes,
and as the bird dies from exhaustion,
you smile. The sky opens its huge mouth.
Every terrible knot in your body is slowly untied.