Little Swallows
Little Swallows
by Stan Galloway
The summer I was 8 at grandpa’s farm,
Louise, the girl next door, and I discovered
little swallows in a nook behind the barn.
They were too small to fly; we watched in awe,
content to wonder, happy as the swallows grew.
The summer I was 12 at grandpa’s farm,
Louise and I pursued the little swallows,
hiding when the mother bird would poke her beak
into the mouths of young ones, sliding far enough
to leave a morsel then back out. We watched them all.
The summer I was 16, grandpa’s farm was heaven
for me. Lou and I had studied little swallows,
seen the bigger swallows, and were budding
ornithologists. We spent our evenings
at the barn repeating little swallows’ lore.
This summer I turned 20. Grandpa’s farm was sold
and I asked Lou to live with me. A dairy cottage
gave us housing in return for farm work
and we found it didn’t matter where we lived,
joined as we were by love of little swallows.
-refers from artwork titled Lost and Found by Jonathan K Rice
Jonathan K. Rice
December 27, 2011
wonderful poem! love the imagery. thanks for a great year of poetry!
Jeanette Gallagher
December 27, 2011
Terrific poem! It’s a love story telling three stories in one: mother love, people creature love, and romantic love. Sweet.
jessiecarty
December 27, 2011
Glad to see some comments coming in! Thank you
Nicky Yurcaba
December 28, 2011
Beautiful, Stan. As always!
Debbie
December 28, 2011
I love the telling of the story and that it had a happy ending! Thank you!
eekwrite
December 28, 2011
Beautiful read, Stan. Swallows are unique way of falling in love with a best friend. Great love story, which warms the heart.
Andrea Beltran (@Drebelle)
December 28, 2011
Such a tender poem…touching way to end 2011 and begin 2012.
Stan Galloway
December 28, 2011
Thank you all for the lovely and encouraging comments.