Does the mother bird rue
when her fledgling leaves the nest,
drop the worm while the
father squawks and squawks,
soothes her ruffled feathers?
We humans though scratch and claw
when one of ours moves far away
sad over
the very reason
we raised them.
“But I am not a bird,”
my wife cries,
as she nests in my arms.
Originally published in Rue Scribe/Underwood