✨ Ghost of a Robin

I weave a needle ...

Ghost of a Robin

Let’s call her Lucy—

On the skinniest branch
of a paper birch
where slender limbs spear the sky
a robin was

On the same day leaf buds
pulled back into their bracts
having tasted acid air
retreating from hard knocks
coming on from a diamond-glint summer

Only now suffering     what past     what future
will be     will be

As if by plan the ghost of yesterday’s robin
lingers on the skinniest branch
toes clamped

I weave a needle into the gauze of day
and pluck it out again

Don’t you see? she said,
We all come from there—
stardust

—Margaret Koger

“Ghost of a Robin” is from If Seasons Were Kingdoms, Fernwood Press, Copyright © 2024 by Margaret Koger. Used by permission of Fernwood Press. All rights reserved. www.fernwoodpress.com. Photo by Daniil Komov, via Unsplash.