from my window

by wendy wolff blumberg

_________________________ . ________________________

Missing You

It is in another time
Another place
I hear mocking birds
Sing
As they claim their territories
In the mating months
Of February and March
Our Southern California spring

Each bird owns their own
Repertoire
Of rhythm      trills     melodies
Culled from the sounds 
Of other birds
Their songs resonating like bells
From hillsides around my house

Oh
I remember wonderment
Remember my joy
To hear a mocking bird
Singing 
In the silence of midnight
Moon music     I call it
A lullaby into sleep

—2013


*     *     *


Aleppo, Syria

Child of Aleppo
Caught in the earth
Caught in debris
Where a bomb
Fell
Hands digging frantically
To release you
As other hands
Gently
Brush dirt
Brush dust
From your face
To keep the miracle
Of your breath
Coming
While you lie still
Your eyes closed
No cry      no whimper
Heard

And then
The cameras follow
You
To when you stand
Bathed
Wearing clean clothes
To show the world
This little girl from
Aleppo
Alive and beautiful
As beautiful a child
As ever seen

—February 2014