A Charm to Learn to Relinquish

Sparrow, you flurry this empty ground

under a barren juniper daily

November through March. In our peck-or-die

world every wingbeat demands

dedication to survival.

I, too, scratched futile dust

denying all evidence, risking starvation

and I warn you, Sparrow,

nothing comes of it.

 

(from The Book of Charms)