At the reading…

This evening at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford  (7 p.m.) I’ll be reading from Sparrow. Here’s a sample:

On a Lack of Apples

The Lombardy Poplars line up
at the far end of the park like girls,

their arms linked, ready
to call Red Rover, Red Rover and come running in.

Maybe fruit was only a metaphor–

image to assuage the mind’s tongue,
fancy’s luminous palate. Outside the garden

fall litters the ground, a carpet
of discarded color. Through bare ladders

of the poplars, the sky hangs blue
and full of God as ever. In the air, a chill,

the call of geese departing,
or no sound at all, the sound

a snake must make, seeking warmth deep
in the earth’s deep pockets.