The Bird Woman of Carlsbad
>A steam-powered sparrow
with an unerring eye for her reflection
in window or water, she’s still in love
with who she was in 1962. Her nest is now
the beat up purse that holds her life
hidden in its torn lining. She flies
with other people’s pills
fished from the bag’s bottom,
follows mysterious instructions saved
on cryptic receipts and expired coupons.
She's making a map that will let her fly,
straight to somebody's love.
She doesn’t understand that sparrows who are seventy
qualify only for crumbs of impossible affection.
She dashes her small self against the glass again and again
and believes a facelift will fix anything,
because that’s what sparrows do.
© 2010 Roxanna Groves
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