One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

If a magpie were to deliver

a message                    you would hear                  aag

aag       aag.  Did you say good morning              mister magpie                       did you flap

your arms in response

know you could find a diamond from a magpie                    in flight?

one for sorrow

two for joy                             three                               for the funeral

of the oldest magpie to live                    to twenty-one                     which is more

than some                are afforded: aag aag aag–

 

I recall my mornings          in Idaho, alone        with the magpies        one for sorrow     two

for the hoarfrost            as I flew          on my bike           through the Palouse.

Count again–three for–four for          their air        I consumed       I see

maybe           ten           aag in murmuration

like a salute                     from the trees–

 

About the Author

Ash Goedker received her MFA in poetry at the University of Idaho where she was also the Editor-in-Chief at Fugue. She was the winner of the University of Idaho’s Academy of American Poets Prize and a finalist in the 2016 Indiana Review ½ K Prize. Her poems have appeared in The Broadsided Press, Great Lakes Review, Indiana Review, Third Point Press, and others. She lives in New Orleans and teaches at Nicholls State University.