Songbird

By Fern Golden

Songbird,

you can write me a letter

if your beloved is bereft of you.

If they have crossed over,

to join orangutans,

you can write me.

Songbird,

I noticed you don't write letters.

So as you trill sweet melodies

from garden hedges, neat and near,

I will listen—

if only to hold

space for your grief.

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*Originally published in Plumwood Mountain Journal, 2022.

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Chiqinik (thank you) for reading! :)