Melange
She built a nest from shreds:
sliver of straw from far away
feather from a crow she never met
cigarette-wrapper cellophane,
a partial note someone wrote,
green grass, brown leaves, red yarn,
gray fur from an anonymous cat
to create the nest on my window ledge.
I’m like that scavenger robin
who flew away in a wink of movement.
I’ve gathered one wrinkled watercolor
from a neighbor’s trash, a tarnished mirror
from I can’t remember where,
a piano stool from the side of the road,
a rickety rocker where I secretly sit
to admire my counterpart’s artwork.
This poem is from the book Black Swan by Kathleen Shaw (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/black-swan-by-kathleen-shaw/
Kathleen Shaw is a poet, retired Assistant Professor of English at a community college, former high school teacher, volunteer writing tutor, student of watercolors and oils, and twice runner-up for Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Her poetry has appeared in Anthology, Derail, Philadelphia Stories, and Schuylkill Valley Journal, as well as Art Through the Eyes of Mad Poets: An Ekphrastic Poetry Collection. She is currently working on a book of Haiku. Kathleen shares her home and her life with her husband Paul and cherishes visits with her three children and four grandchildren.
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