qarrtsiluni

by Kris Lindbeck

a solitary egret
flying low under an intricate
sky of live oak branches

yesterday I couldn’t stop worrying
today I can’t stop making plans

June is the season of sober brown grackle mothers
followed by begging fledglings fatter than they are.
One stuffs a bug in the gaping mouth,
another turns her head away again and again,
pretending to ignore her squawking chick.

someone yelling outside near midnight
but I can’t hear what they’re saying – 82 inside
and still too hot outside to open the window.

with summer we choose a little more
comfort, a little less connection.

Visiting my dad last week at the “home”
I looked out the window at an orange butterfly
in the purple Mexican petunias while
a 103-year-old man sleeping with
his jacket drawn close against the air conditioning
woke up, muttered “I’m cold” and went back to sleep.

childless, I wonder if anyone will visit
me if I outlive my strength…more
a sadness than a worry today

when I can’t find my faith in God’s mercy
I put my faith in surprise

carefully caught
and brought from house to garden
the tiny lizard…

my arm
up
runs

*

Kris Lindbeck is a professor of Jewish Studies who writes Japanese short form poetry on Twitter (@KrisLindbeck). She is working on a book of poems and short essays about women in the Bible. Her twitter poetry is collected at klindbeck.tumblr.com.