in her town, A buries a yellow bird
refers to it as a gesture of care
because she can see the world
in the small knows that a bird is
a speck of the larger God-flock
I lean in because I need to—
for the sake of staying around
in the name of the sun inside us all
droned to her about my makings
and then she tells me this? I can’t help
myself. I needed the dead wonder.
needed someone to know I too have
my ear to the root. it is between us now
—the yellow bird that gilts us
Renia is a poet and writing instructor from the east coast. Her poetry has been recognized by the likes of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, Sonora Review, and Indiana Review and appears or is forthcoming in The Offing, Slice, Poetry Daily, Witness, Southern Indiana Review, No, Dear and elsewhere. She earned her BA from Howard University & her MFA from Cornell University, where she also taught. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.