Betsy Sholl

IT WAS

Heidi Daub, Whispered Longings

a squirrel flicking its tail, it was the woodpecker’s

red head, a sparrow wing flaring in light, it was

an angel, a message, bayberries on bare twigs,

it was Love Supreme in a car stopped at the light,

don’t stop me from believing it was a message,

it was a moment held, a pebble in the mouth,

a bubble blown then caught on the wand’s rim,

it was a bare tree like earth-wires sparking

in the light, it was two old women arm in arm,

Heidi Daub, Untitled

their droopy bosoms, mouths full of teeth, laughing,

their heads thrown back, it was the world breaking

its grim hold, it was the green light saying

Go, and all the cars not going so a dog

like a small god could weave among them.