Southern Charm 1942

He came as the gift; a boy finally
after all the girls. He crawled,
walked, ran - untempered. Full of
temper. that came
later. Here is the boy;

alone in a sea of women,he
finds the dirt, the space under
the house, the worms, the scent of
dog feet, the ambition to lift the
desk, the grain, the back of the car.

He does not disappoint.

Here is the boy, discovering the nest,
abandoned. He finds a funnel, chews the worms
himself. Forges a brace. Sets the feeder.

Watching the fledglings
fly.

No one needs to know. No one
needs to know.