from the ground
despite their eager pointing
I couldn’t see til liftoff
when her body uncoupled from tree,
became bird
buzzed across blue like broken green glass
my eyes, distracted by her spark,
had to search the limbs again
finally found the slumped-open bowl
she’d been busily turning
on a flimsy branch right over sidewalk
likely a lesson in loss
days later we held a phone high
when she was off at the feeder
found a single white egg
a Jordan almond in a jeweler’s plush box
then two, long axes aligned,
neat as a pin
one day she landed on the lip
tiny feet tottering on the nest’s edge
and we knew another soul had arrived
but it wasn’t like we thought:
big bruise-purple bumps
on translucent pink skin
no down at all
no elegance about it
it was the naked need of the just-arrived
helpless and vulnerable
but still asking for love
how could this small alien thing
so fragile and awkward
survive in a world of nos?
but she did. as did her twin -
two small, improbable yeses
weathering even the hardest hail
oh, the anticipation
as the oldest beat her wings in the nest
building strength
trying freedom
ready to launch
into a lifetime of thousand-mile journeys
almost weightless with hope
