Poetry
to the house sparrows, dispossessed
By Gwendolyn Jensen
1.
Light was the weight you put on the ivy
your singing was light as your wings,
quiet the light the evening’s blue light,
and no bird sings.
2.
Light was the weight you put on the ivy
when you clattering reared
back with your wings, you stalled, you sank,
you disappeared
3.
into the ivy you disappeared
small hours you slept away,
light was the weight you put on the ivy,
safe until day.
4.
Quiet this light this evening’s blue light
as you rear and fly headlong,
spread back your wings, but shrieking you turn,
for the ivy is gone.
5.
Light was the weight you put on the ivy
quiet the light as quiet as wings,
quiet the light the evening’s blue light—
and no bird sings.
Gwendolyn Jensen began writing poems when she retired in 2001 from the presidency of Wilson College (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania). Places where her work has appeared include The Beloit Poetry Journal, Chautauqua, The Comstock Review, Measure, The Malahat Review, and Salamander. Birthright, her first book of poetry, was published by Birch Brook Press in a letterpress edition in the fall of 2010.
Please follow our Commentary Guidelines when engaging in discussion on this site.
