Skate Park Birds

Poetry
Written By D. Walsh Gilbert

—Stephen Meszaros (USA) 2012

Before the girls toddled
legs planted
and gravity
falling
like two novice
and after
to rest
raise their heads
pretend
as a cupped hand
distances
flexed muscles
until it was

who’d fledge first

they balanced
and tested swagger
just to feel
while it was safe
skateboarders
the girls learned
in steadfast palms
ruffle feathers
every nest was warm
they measured
listened to owl wisdom
and fixed wayfaring eyes

impossible to predict

or farthest
or return

D. Walsh Gilbert

D. Walsh Gilbert is the author of "Ransom" (Grayson Books) and forthcoming "eggshell in a tempest" (Cerasus Poetry Press). A Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of The Ekphrastic Review’s 2021 “Bird Watching” contest, she’s currently preparing an all-ekphrastic poetry collection for mid-2022. Her work has recently appeared in Gleam, The Lumiere Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Riverbed Review, Peeking Cat Poetry, and the anthology, Waking Up to the Earth: Connecticut Poets in a Time of Global Climate Crisis, among others. She serves on the board of the non-profit, Riverwood Poetry Series, and as co-editor of the Connecticut River Review.

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