P O E T R Y
The Sparrow Nest
ED AHERN
T
HE egg-fat sparrow squats in the gutter-end under my eave . Brown and dirty beige , soft chirping and stoic .
The gutter ’ s held nests for fourteen years and sparrows live but five . A granddaughter stares back , wondering why my hatchlings never returned to brood .
I refuse to yank the nests or tack on mesh despite communion wafer guano . We ’ re in residence , the egg-fat bird and I .
23