Lives in the hedge next door.
I have hedge envy.

He swoops in once daily
on his no-bagel-crumbs

mission. Four times per,
if I have seeds or multi-grain

bits. Passover begins
tomorrow, so we’ll see

if whole-wheat matzo warrants
his bright blue flight.

I am in love with a bird,
whom Lou does not envy.

He’s a secure guy.
When I confessed that I write to

a poet once a week, the
Air Force dude, Lou

didn’t blink. 39 years,
and he’s serene about love.

The only thing we argue
in our suburban fort

is how to fold the
hand towels.

Also, whether to watch
“All Rise” or

“A French Village.”
I gave him that rerun.

I’ll name the jay
Beau: “O les beau jours

de bonheur
indicible…”

“Oh the fine days
of unspeakable joy.”

Hélas, Verlaine, these
unspeakable days

are not carefree.
Tell Rimbaud we’re done.

I am thankful to be cooped
with a good man,

grateful that the blues
have wings.

Image credit: A Blue Jay in Kensington Metropark (photograph by Scott Baxter)

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Marilyn Kallet

Marilyn Kallet is currently serving her second term as Knoxville Poet Laureate. She has published 18 books, including How Our Bodies Learned, The Love That Moves Me, and Packing Light: New and Selected Poems, Black Widow Press. She has translated Paul Eluard’s Last Love Poems and Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game. Dr. Kallet is Professor Emerita at the University of Tennessee. She mentors poetry groups for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France. Her poetry has appeared recently in New Letters and North American Review. Poetry is forthcoming in Plume, Cutthroat, 101 Jewish Poems for the New Millennium, and New Voices, an anthology of contemporary voices confronting antisemitism.

Contact: mkallet@utk.edu
Website: http://marilynkallet.com
City of Knoxville page for Kallet: http://knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=13362748

Latest posts by Marilyn Kallet (see all)

• The Morels – by Marilyn Kallet - May 17, 2020
• The Biggest Blue Jay – Poem by Marilyn Kallet - April 16, 2020
• For International Holocaust Remembrance Day – Poem by Marilyn Kallet - January 7, 2018