Straw House
written by: Barbara Harris Leonhard
Nestled in a bed woven
of twigs, grass, mud,
a shattered blue egg
and a shiny pink hatchling.
Its tiny head
stretches backward.
Soft yellow beak opens
the bright orange throat,
I am alive!
I am alive!
Fragile, tiny life
screams for food.
Can it thrive
through storms, parasites,
disease?
I shelter in my nest.
Dare I sing my life,
gather with my flock?
If I fly the coop,
fail to soar,
I lie exposed,
hunted by an invisible predator.
Ready to die?
My remains, carted away
to a mass grave.
Huddled in this brittle shell,
cracked open for a view of light,
of sun to scan my glossy skin.
Still alive.
Still alive.
Barbara Harris Leonhard
OCTOBER 2021 AUTHOR OF THE MONTH at Spillwords.com
Barbara Leonhard’s work appears in various online and print publications, and anthologies. The most recent anthology, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (Ed. Gabriela Marie Milton, 2022) was a #1 bestseller on Amazon. Barbara earned both third place and honorary mention for two poems in Well Versed 2021. Her premier poetry collection, Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir, which is about her relationship with her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, will be published October 2022 by EIF - Experiments in Fiction. From that memoir collection, her poem “Marie Kondo Cleans My Purse at Starbucks” was voted Spillwords Publication of the Month of January and February 2022. Barbara was also voted Spillwords Author of the Month of October 2021 and recognized as a Spillwords Socialite of the Year in 2021. Barbara enjoys hosting Zoom gatherings for poets. You can follow her on WordPress - Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver.
Latest posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard (see all)
- Collateral Damage - August 10, 2022
- Carrying the World in a Broken Laundry Basket - April 15, 2022
- Marie Kondo Cleans My Purse at Starbucks - January 28, 2022
