Dum Spiro Spero by Erin Belieu

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend March 30, 2016   Dum Spiro Spero   Erin Belieu

Come, Lord, and lift the fallen bird                                        Abandoned on the ground;                                        The soul bereft and longing so                                        To have the lost be found…     Before the movers came, we found the sparrows’ nest   concealed inside the chive plant on the patio.   And the bald chicks there calling, unfledged, undone.    Love, the mean days collecting scored us, and hourly   such years: we feel too much   assembling what our world got wrong; black artery    of wires, branched hazard, rat stinking in the beams. Wrong as   your mattress on the floor, walls where the only stud   sinks into a metal grief.   Take this distance as you go, Love, which is my faith, tedious,   steady, like scraping gum from a shoe. Strong as a cobweb,   I give you this durable string.   Because I remember you: who saves the sparrows;   the chicks calling and calling and you who won’t forget them;   have seen the ghost who rents your eyes dissolve when   your face turns to the light.   Today, I watched the other birds who lived this winter   peppering our tulip tree. The buds’ tough seams begin to crack.   Ordinary. No sign to read, I know. But while we breathe, we hope.   epigraph from “Come Lord And Lift,” by T. Merrill            Copyright © 2016 Erin Belieu. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This was written at the beginning of grieving a long relationship, and a family, that died from chronic dishonesty and unfaithfulness. We humans often try to keep our sentimental stories in place, knowing that, when we finally let go of them, we’ll have to face the self deceptions that allowed us to willingly participate in causing our own pain. That’s rock bottom, isn’t it?  But I think the urge to make poems in our darkest moments is a very hopeful one. It’s a good life, if you don’t give in.” —Erin Belieu   Erin Belieu is the author of Slant Six (Copper Canyon Press, 2014). She directs the creative writing program at Florida State University and lives in Tallahassee, Florida.   Photo credit: Matt Valentine  Poetry by Belieu   Slant Six (Copper Canyon Press, 2014) "We're All Ghosts Now" by Dara Wier "Wildwood Flower" by Kathryn Stripling Byer "Anecdotes" by Baron Wormser Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038