Saudade

on mobile? turn phone sideways!

you used to nuzzle your dog / & I’d pretend / a mom could do that to me / I’d imagine
us talking about owls /  we never did /  I never gave us the chance / in my dreams, we
wouldn’t stop talking /  we’d hide nothing /  you’d see me / Tawny, I’d whisper / I had
a friend with that name /  you didn’t know me then /  you never knew her /  we never
asked each other about our names  /  & you’d tell me that owls tucked in their young &
I’d  walk with you  under the country-lit stars  &  I’d keep naming feathers  &  burrow &
wings   / there’s a barn owl &  a pygmy & a great gray  /  when owls love you,  they turn
their heads all the  way around  /  I thought  /  if I lost a home,  I’d find a place where I
could nestle & coo / like they do / alone but not alone / midnight love / under frayed
stars  &  flight paths  /  nip my flight in half  &  look for shooting stars like ricochets  /
Tawny  &  I used to hold pinkies in the dark  /  we’d say goodnight to her spider plants
& and pull the covers up over us