This depends on many things.
If the nuthatch has a broken wing,
it won’t be able to fly.
If it has a sturdy nest and young
to tend, why should it leave?
I recognize its yank-yank call
but can’t predict its behavior.
If my brain is loaded
with nails, some may carry
lockjaw germs. Are you and I
doctors or carpenters? Is
cannabis hammer or plank?  

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Lucille Lang Day’s poetry collections are Infinities, Wild One, Fire in the Garden, and Self-Portrait with Hand Microscope, which received the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. She also has a poetry chapbook in the “Greatest Hits” series from Pudding House and is the author of Chain Letter, a children's book published by Heyday. The founder and director of Scarlet Tanager Books, she is also the director of the Hall of Health, a children's museum in Berkeley.
E-mail: lucyday at scarlettanager dot com
Website: www.scarlettanager.com
forthcoming chapbook from Lucille Lang Day  

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