by Jessica Mehta
The cherries, the birds
got them all, gobbled them up—
spit down the pits
for the lawnmower to chew through.
I was five, and the blank fields
went on for acres. Each spring
the blossoms birthed, the fruits
got heavy and the birds
got fat, feasted
like winged gods.
Jessica Mehta is a a multi-award-winning poet and author of the just-released "Selected Poems: 2000 - 2020," the winner of the Birdy Prize from Meadowlark Books. As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, space, place, and ancestry in post-colonial "America" informs much of her work. You can learn more at www.thischerokeerose.com.