Stellasue Lee
CHILDREN IN PRAISE OF ...
He sounded as if he was dying
just outside my bedroom window --
a black bird, young,
almost as large as his mother.
She wanted him to hunt,
but he stubbornly refused -- hunkered
down on a branch near her --
wailing to be fed.
He was hungry, of this I was certain.
His short tail feathers were a dead
giveaway to his youth, but his mother
had done her job well.
Nonetheless, he could fly,
had flown into the tree in my yard.
Now he faked his demise.
His performance so believable,
his mother looked uncertain.
"Horse feathers," I said aloud,
"he's nothing more then a con artist."
She turned to look at me.
"Horse feathers," I said again, louder this time.
She flew off leaving the little bugger,
who immediately straightened himself
and flew after her.
He is who he is, I thought,
and feeling generous at the moment,
I forgave him as I forgave my daughter
the day I brought her home.
Even then, she had Sarah Bernhardt eyes --
that pinched, kissable mouth.
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Location:
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Spokane, Washington
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Email:
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StellasueL@aol.com
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Books:
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Crossing The Double Yellow Line; After I Fall, a collection of four Los Angeles poets; Over To You, an exchange of poems with David Widup; and 13 Los Angeles Poets, the ONTHEBUS Poets Series Number One
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Awards:
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Lee is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and was given an award by the Board of Library Commissioners and Mayor Tom Bradley for storytelling in the Los Angeles public libraries.
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Editor of:
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Rattle
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Other:
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Received her Ph.D. from Honolulu University
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