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Since 1996 Volume XXI

Barbara Quick

Novelist, poet and journalist Barbara Quick is the author of seven books, including Northern Edge, winner of the Discover Award; Vivaldi’s Virgins, which has been translated into 14 languages; and A Golden Web, a young adult novel (all published by HarperCollins). Her most recent poem appeared in the December edition of The Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Birds Know What They’re Doing

The birds know what they’re doing.

They own the air, the branches,

wires, rafters. The ground is their

dinner-plate, the ether filled

with snacks. Feeding, flying,

gathering—staying still to feel

the day’s last benediction of sunlight,

filling their eyes with it—

They’re never paralyzed,

worrying whether they’ve focused

on the wrong things—

Or have anything to express,

after all—

Or will ever sing again.

31 May 2014