The Shored House

by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

 

early June
early in the marriage
early morning
in the shored
house

the first
drafty?
will they
won’t they
make the
long haul
trial house

a sparrow flew
down the chimney
and flopped
across the ceiling

a bird getting into the house
was real bad luck, Aunt Anna
said when I was a child

the bird didn’t believe
in Anna’s juju
so continued to fly
down the chimney
and flop across the ceiling

I didn’t believe in
Anna’s juju either
but putting a grate up
made it easier on us all