5 January 2007 | Vol. 6, No. 4
After a Day of Silence
If I were to tell you
about the nighthawk
sounding like a bullhorn,
the swallows flitting
through the copse of
baby pine. Suppose
the shadows doubt
their existence, so I
begin to doubt mine.
After all, the crickets
have shut up. You are
there, behind that full
moon, in another state
in another hour. If I were
to tell you that my need
is that nighthawk, and
my mouth the swallow.
Suppose my insect heart
rubs its wings, and you
hear it and begin to walk
toward all its false starts.
About the author:
Mimi McDonald, recipient of a Knobler Fellowship, is currently completing her MFA in poetry at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. Included in her published work is "Four Lu-shihs of War," which appeared in the Poetry & Politics issue of the Mississippi Review online.
For further reading:
Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 6, No. 4, where "After a Day of Silence" ran on January 5, 2007. List other work with these same labels: poetry, love poem.
