Wishing in July
—for S.M., in friendship
Our days were a host of common house sparrows
perched on a fence – preoccupied with millet
seeds or dust baths, waiting for squares of sun.
Our letters were patchy flights in which we
told of weak limbs, wheelchairs, folded selves, and
the flat concrete of loss – but also, of myths,
and the waterlily that bloomed like a full
salmon moon on your emerald pond. As you
celebrate another milestone, I wish
for you one cardinal day, with kingly
feathers and a crowned swagger, with climbing
crimson wings and a whistle to pierce the woe.
The sparrow days now scatter for a poplar;
wounds sleep; and the cardinal alights, carolling.
Veronica Ashenhurst has published both poetry and articles on legal education. Her poems have appeared in Christian Century, Health Affairs, and Wordgathering, among other journals.
See more of Veronica's work in issue 10.2