I have lost my turtle dove
I hear a jug-jug, but it’s not a dove.
It’s a squirrel
that wants a hug.
My backyard is full of
creatures in love—
the world is fertile!
The jug-jug I hear is not a dove,
but maybe the chipmunk that
nibbled on the cover
of my journaling
book this morning. I wanted a hug,
so I sat down and scribbled a
poem—Near a tide-pool
by the bay, I can hear the kaplink-jug-jug
of my mandolin, the cooing
of my own heart as I message you an Otis Redding
song for a hug.
Wanting to prove
that love abides forever,
I thought I heard a dove
and got a hug.
