Teach Me to Say Goodbye
       

No need for
the reason five wild turkeys
run ahead of you, looking for a break
in the board fence where they can dive
into wild wheat, huge yellow claws
clapping against the asphalt of a country road.

No need for hurt feelings when the first swallow
swoops across your peripheral vision,
the glint that is your life,
followed by the flock you believe for keeps.

One set of wings after another
sails through an ancient elm
that somehow survived the last century,
disappears beyond what's hidden
by the green branches' span.

It's not your place
to know why two horses trot towards you
ears pricked forward, then, manes and tails
streaming, fly to the far end of the pasture,
leave you standing near the fence line
with words in your mouth, an apple in your hand.

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Copyright © 2020 Katherine Smith All rights reserved
from Boulevard
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission