What Bird

The "in" joke we have
when someone isn't making sense,
babbling or rambling on.
One of us asks, "what bird?"
stolen from some conversation
you had long ago.
We always laugh.
Maybe you laugh because it reminds
you, but I laugh because it's dumb.

You asked me to marry you
on the couch in the house we bought together.
With the pond for your fish.
And we got a cat.
I started my life over,
branding myself as scarlet as Hester.
You promised we'd still hold hands when we got old.

Now you call every day,
And we're such good friends.
I still sleep next to you sometimes,
and when you get tired, you slip
and call me Little One.

But it's been two years.

I wait to hear from you.
I cling to our fragile bond,
afraid to lose what's left.
Someday you'll find someone.
Or I will.
And then it will end.

What bird?