SYMPATHY

Because wings,
because sky, because

a pier’s outstretched finger
pointing west.

Because yellow houses.
Because cherries

and cherry pits
and hot summer days.

Because the harmless child.
Because please

and pleas and innocence.
Because fleas and plague.

Because useless prayers
and empty folios, because

bottle nose dolphins 
and dying pines.

Because hope.
Because love.
Because wings.

Ruth Bavetta’s poems have appeared in North American Review, Nimrod, Rattle, Slant, American Journal of Poetry, Atlanta Review, Tar River Poetry and many other journals and anthologies. She likes the light on November afternoons, the music of Stravinsky, the smell of the ocean. She hates pretense, fundamentalism and sauerkraut.