Sparrow's Message and Left
Two Sunday Poems
Sparrows message
by Kerry Zagarella
The frozen rain crinkles
against the window
behind the dripping sparrow
splitting shells
A day to explore remembered silence
and notice my own beak cracking something
hard
the cold water bead rolls
across the smokey gray feathers of the junco
onto the striped palette of the downy
then splashes
onto the unsuspecting woodland sparrow
eating at the bottom of the feeder
who now looks up
cocks its head one way
then another
trying to glimpse the colors
of a new bird
as the water beads and drips
wind twirls the feeder
is reborn
and looks through the window
her beady eyesight sliding
through the silence of forced air and passing cars
to fill just an instant with gratitude
and that is enough
Left
By Neal Zagarella
If you had lifted my wallet
Or knocked in my teeth with a chair
At least I would have my day in court
Instead my settlement is paid
In too much wine
And too much space
And outside the window
The maple tree you leaned against
Slopes in disappointment
And when I walk out to console it
The grass you lazily sprawled upon
Weeps beneath my feet
The purple and yellow pansies you sniffed
Look away, down
And the old, wooden swing mourns and moans
Mourns and moans beneath my solitary body
Sensing the unevenness
The wind gets lost
In this new space beside me
And the finches chatter nervously
Trying to fill the waves
That once lifted your laughter
Up into the maple branches
Limbs whose shadows
Drape my shoulders in sympathy
We all feel the space
Poems and other vices fill my empty hands
But what comforts the birds and the trees?
What eases the blades of grass, the breeze?
You must come to them
And whisper to them your explanation
When I repeat the words you said to me
They hang frozen
All day and into the moony night
In utter disbelief
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Both incredibly powerful poems today! Thank you!
🥹♥️