Scarecrow

Remember her strapped to the air,
her grey dress flapping a little?

The field mice ran beneath her feet
learning new technologies.

I don't scare anybody, she complained,
smiling, a nest on her head.

Which was how much I loved her,
all through the harvest
and dismantling.

I am the morning dove
who nests in the gutter.

I am singing sadly to the barn.


"Scarecrow" from American Linden. Copyright © 2002 by Matthew Zapruder. Reprinted with the permission of Tupelo Press.