Survivor - Adele Kenny

[Lawrence Robinson]

Survivor

A jay on the fence preaches to a
squirrel. I watch the squirrel quiver,
the way squirrels do - its whole
body flickers. I’m not sure why this
reminds me of when I was five and

something died in our drain spout.
Feather of fur, I watched my father
dig it out, knowing (as a child knows)
how much life matters. I have seen how
easily autumn shakes the yellow leaves,

how winter razes the shoals of heaven.
I have felt love’s thunder and moan, and
had my night on the wild river. I have
heard the cancer diagnosis with my name
in it. I know what mercy is and isn’t.

Morning breaks from sparrows’ wings
(life’s breezy business), and I’m still here,
still in love with the sparrows, the joys -
days like this, measured by memory, the
ticking crickets, the pulse in my wrist.

	- Adele Kenny