Produced by Dennis Camire

This week’s poem is by Carolyn Locke of Troy Maine.

How It Happens

By Carolyn Locke

She’s different every day,

This morning, she’s the sparrow you half glimpse

in the hedgerow.

You try not to startle her, take quiet, gentle steps. Still, just when you think you’re close enough

to truly see her,

she flits ahead, slips into leaf shadow

just beyond your reach.

And it’s not even that you want

to hold her in your grasp, that you need

to stroke the soft feathers on her back, or feel

her warm heart beating.

You only want her

to stop long enough for your eyes to meet, for just one of hers

to look deep into yours,

and maybe, as you turn and walk away, to carry into the darkness the song she alone can sing.

Dennis Camire can be reached at dcamire@cmcc.edu