< Back to Issue 12

POETRY

“Sparrow, on the Straight and Narrow” read by Clay Matthews.

Sparrow, on the Straight and Narrow

The thing you fear the most trails on the ground
behind you: the smell of blood coyotes

sense a mile away. Yes, you will be found
in the field, hidden and holding the key

to freedom like a distant memory
you reach for in a gone drawer, a gone

cabinet. Lights out — documentary
of an anxious soul. How funny. How long,

Lord, must we wait until at last the song
reminds us fear is underfoot, and crushed

like a snake’s head blossoming, red and strong
the floral scent of hope? Weeping gets hushed

in the morning; birds sing; the tall grass frees
you from its hold. Listen — shhhh — to the trees.

---

Clay Matthews has published poetry in journals such as Image, Heart of Flesh, Appalachian Review, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. His books are Superfecta (Ghost Road Press), RUNOFF (BlazeVox), Pretty, Rooster and Shore (both from Cooper Dillon), and Four-Way Lug Wrench (Main Street Rag Books). His next book, Birds Sing, Anyway, is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press. He currently lives in Elizabethtown, KY and teaches at Elizabethtown Community & Technical College.

---

Next (Charles Eggerth) >
< Previous (John Martino)

---

Image: The Good Shepherd by Henry Ossawa Tanner. Public domain.