POETRY

Anne, the puritan*,

Compares her children to young birds

Who have flown out of the nest

And left her alone

In shady woods.

I get up and go to your room

And look at the dark screen of your computer

Which looks like a window

With closed blinds.

Will I go to sleep again

With the hum of your raps at night?

And will I wake up in the morning

With your punctuated breath

Hanging from the exercise bar on your door?

I wear your leather jacket

Put on your polished shoes

Look at myself in your full-size mirror

And see you in a dance club at night

With a big mike in your hand.

No, my fledgling

Has grown into a singing bird

And even in this empty nest

I can hear his proud voice

From far-away forests.

Majid Naficy
October 25, 2009

* Anne Bradstreet (1612-72) was an English poet who immigrated to New England with her parents and husband. Here, there is an allusion to her poem, entitled "In Reference to Her Children"  written on June 23, 1659.