Back in the World
by Ryan G. Van Cleave

    the well-beloved
    stanzas
    of orioles
    & finches
    this spring

    how they
    purple
    the air
    with song
    & stir shadows
    like old
    comrades
    home now
    from war

    the silent
    arrhythmia
    of winter
    is eerie
    how it flutters
    red upon red
    a heart
    teasing yet
    with the idea
    of complete
    rest

    we think
    we know
    them
    we think
    we think
    we know
    everything

    by the dark
    by the day
    these birds
    are us
    their beaks
    the stamen
    of our life's
    expanse






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