Harm or Home You Can Only Make One

why did he descend on her
eagle to little brown wren

beneath his vermilion dives
talons pulling prey from the lake

he wanted a sweetness not himself
when he covered her she gasped

if she flew all day
he found her in a moment

the seeds she found not enough
her own young ravished her warm breast

Copyright 2005 by Cammy Thomas, from Cathedral of Wish. Reprinted with permission from Four Way Books. All rights reserved.