after max sansing



when daddy says my head is a bird’s

nest, he means a momma bird might find it

inviting. my hair: a place to raise her first eggs,

a place her first babes might call out to her, a place

she might fly back to from the wet morning dirt, chewing

a worm in the side of her cheek, so her baby might swallow

it down easy, so her baby might fall asleep with a full stomach

and never dream of falling, so i might rise from sleep

on a Sunday morning, come downstairs dressed

for church with a head full of morning songs,

uncombed hair, hear my daddy chuckle,
search for words, and call it wild