I can still hear the sad sweep of leaves that
came from the branches of the ornamental
beech like the strings of a harp that had been
slowly struck, lifted and passed over by wind,
causing me to once again think of you and
the way you’d sometimes sit within ear-shot
of the fountain as an act of healing and, in a
dream-state, listen to the exquisite peal between
leaf and water and how later at night your voice
would call me to bed where we would try our
best to understand the life we had been given
and that neither of us had asked for, and
remembering, too, the pair of sparrows that built
their nest just above the shed’s rafters that you
claimed would leave them exposed and vulnerable
and so, days later, it came as no surprise to see
grief made visible on account of some truant
crow’s muffled pilfering and then hearing you
say in a faraway voice that at least God had
the good grace to offer them the gift of choice.
John Muro has authored two books of poems — In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite — in 2020 and 2022, respectively. His third book, A Bountiful Silence, will be published later this year. Since the publication of his first book, John has been thrice nominated for the Pushcart Prize,
