The Smallest Wren

You were small like a wren.
Your eyes too close together.
Pennies stuck with gum.

The August heat is a hammer.
You died in this a week ago.

The evening won’t cool
since you left.
Lawns brown like foxes.
Wrens flee the bushes,
drown the sky in flight.

 

 

Dave Malone’s most recent book is You Know the Ones (Golden Antelope Press, 2017). His work has appeared in journals he admires including Elder Mountain, San Pedro River Review, and The Cape Rock. He lives in the Missouri Ozarks, and his interests include local history, minor-league baseball, and vegetarian cooking. He is online at davemalone.net.