Tuesday Poem: ‘I meant it to be a poem about sparrows’—A Collaboration Between Artist, Claire Beynon, & Poet, Helen Lowe

The Sparrows

I meant it to be a poem about sparrows

and how the silence that followed

the February 22nd earthquake

included their absent voices —

& not just sparrows but the starlings

and blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes

that normally fill the day with their bustle

about the business of living …

……………………………. all fallen silent,

hidden away, or gone further to find food

since half the city was covered

in a slick of water and mud. I threw

old bread onto the island of grass

in our own grey sea and waited …...