Love Comes Hungry

Poem: “Love Song,” by Carol Muske-Dukes

fluffylonesparrowacrossfromPost390Boston28Feb2015

Love comes hungry to anyone’s hand.
I found the newborn sparrow next to
the tumbled nest on the grass. Bravely

sparrowbeakopenFortHillTrailsEasthamCapeCod30Oct2016

opening its beak. Cats circled, squirrels.
I tried to set the nest right but the wild
birds had fled. The knot of pin feathers

youngsparrowcrabappletree15Aug2017

sat in my hand and spoke. Just because
I’ve raised it by touch, doesn’t mean it
follows. All day it pecks at the tin image of

beautifulbackofsparrowacrossfromPost390Boston28Feb2015

a faceless bird. It refuses to fly,
though I’ve opened the door. What
sends us to each other? He and I

songsparrowbirdLongwood30April2016

had a blue landscape, a village street,
some poems, bread on a plate. Love
was a camera in a doorway, love was

sparrowintreebMeadowLongwood2May2016

a script, a tin bird. Love was faceless,
even when we’d memorized each other’s
lines. Love was hungry, love was faceless,

songsparrowbirdchestLongwood30April2016

the sparrow sings, famished, in my hand. — Carol Muske-Dukes, “Love Song,” Poetry (October/November, 2002) h/t Memory’s Landscape

songsparrowsingingHeritageGardensSandwichMA23June2016

 

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