Lifeline
The bird we've been watching is really a stick, poking
beak-like, wing-like out of the meadow grass
My old friend is disappointed
There's so many other birds around us
singing small, sweet songs to themselves and each other
My friend’s tongue clicks
She's like a Geiger counter set to detect disappointment
small failures, flaws, a metal detector finding nothing
but bent nails and bottle caps, oxidized pennies
not even old enough to be worth anything
I am also forgetting the forget-me-nots
ignoring all the little wild delights around me, because in this scene
she is my treasure
My old friend has come here to look at disappointing nature with me
when she could have been home watching TV
long, lush grass brushes our ankles
full of deer ticks and rabbit droppings
We've come through so much time together
been so many places neither of us wanted to be
Now, in this encircling meadow
her back is turned to me, shoulder lifted in a habitual shrug
I remember when she was my lifeline.
Cassandra-Halleh Delaney is originally from upstate New York. She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling and Educational Psychology from New Mexico State University. Her work has appeared in Gateway, Sugar House, and Pear Noir. She currently resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.
See more of her work in 10.3 and 1.4