I can’t hear the trees
 

for the birds. Two of them

 
 

trapped in our garage,
 
a flutter of wings, a wild

 
 

cooing among the bicycle dust
 

and giant trash bins.

 
 

Near my idling: forsythia blooms.
 

Listen: I’m afraid of my husband

 
 

taking me by the shoulders
 

and telling me I disappoint him.

 
 

Still, I wait. Of course a broom
 
would be quicker. Even I know that.

 
 
 
 

---

Nicole Callihan’s poems, stories and essays have appeared in Forklift, Ohio, Cream City Review, The L Magazine, North American Review and Painted Bride Quarterly. Her first book of poems, SuperLoop, was published in early 2014. Find her on the web at www.nicolecallihan.com