July 28 – August 3, 2014: Joe Love and Heather Awad

The Jaded Sparrow

A little sparrow told me he was bored.
He could only fly up to the feeder, pick up a
seed, and fly away to eat it so many times
before a dread ennui took hold of his soul.

I asked him if life had always been this way for
him or had he recently lost his taste for
eating, and he said when he was younger he
didn’t need to go to the feeder.

Once upon a time there was food in abundance
but now there was human detritus. I apologized
for my race (or species) and suggested we go to
Galapagos, but he just yawned.

In Search of a Lost Cat

We looked everywhere for the cat
in every room and closet and nook
in the attic with the boxes from the last century
in the basement with the papers we would never read again
in the yard beneath the tree where a blue jay had died
in the tree where the leaves died to celebrate the winter
under the covers of all of the beds
under the beds of all of the family

We looked in the pantry where the dry food hides
under the sink where the wet food rots
inside all the clothes hanging and lying and folded and strewn
up on the shelves where no one could reach
out in the trash where bones and wrappers mingled enfolded

We looked where we looked when we first began looking
and looked once again until we remembered
the cat who was lost had died long ago

Getting it Right

I didn’t know
we were saying
I still love you
and I’ve missed you
only when we’re drunk.
My bad, I was sober,
when I said it the next day.

Good News

I remember waiting
in the examining room.
The doctor would be
right in. Quiet, pouring
outside, I’m trying to
remember where
I put my umbrella.
The nurse laughs when
the thermometer doesn’t work.
Seems like it happens often.
The doctor smiles, charms
lightens up the room.
I wonder if he’s married.
Since my visit to
the emergency room
I’ve been on edge.
He’s talking now
and suddenly
I’m on a cloud,
drifting, grinning.
He says No surgery.
I’m thinking again
about if he has a wife
and how lucky she is
to have him look at her
like he’s looking at me
right now: teeth gleaming
blue eyes soft and wide,
all smiles. I rush to the
check-out window to
schedule my next appointment.