Chase Away The Juncos

Chase Away The Juncos

written by: Amy Brian

The juncos flit in and out
of the brush pile
and I pause to watch the white arrows of their tails
point haphazardly at the landscape.

The makeshift of sticks a wigwam
without height or door,
a place to call home but only entered through the cracks.
Their attachment to the twining of twigs

unsettles me. I know we will
soon chase them from it with flames.
My heart shifts as I consider the pile
consumed, the earth scorched, the juncos

flitting to the outskirts of the tree line.
As I consider the tree- 200 years
of triumph and contorted bark. The rot
in its gut failing until it softened into perfume

as the saws chewed it down.
To assume the burden of the transitory
motion of earth’s surface, dutifully
we piled the tree’s portions; dutifully we will chase away the juncos.

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Amy Brian

Raised a country girl, Amy Brian still resides in the mountains of north-eastern Pennsylvania that formed much of her perspective of the world. She has a bachelor’s in Creative Writing and English and views literature not as an escape from life but rather as a guide for living. Her favorite poets include Joy Harjo, Wallace Stevens, and Denise Levertov. She pursues poetry out of necessity but enjoys the way it can capture vital truths by contemplating daily rituals. Few things spark her interest the way the craft of writing does, but she also enjoys hiking mountains, traveling (to hike different mountains), and kayaking with her Labrador Retriever, Levi.

Latest posts by Amy Brian (see all)

• Chase Away The Juncos - May 16, 2021