She contemplated the birds,
The bees, and the bells—
A trinity of her life.
To refuse their grace,
Would lead her astray,
Where no prayer could save her.
She was heaven’s hostage,
Reading the stars for guidance—
One constellation after another.
Weekly, she visited the priest
Who begged her to tread lightly
Through the thicket of doubt—
Hold steady, allow surrender a home,
Should it come to that.
Each morning, the birds,
The bees, and the bells,
Brought her as close to peace
As the good Lord allowed.
Bart Edelman’s poetry collections include Crossing the Hackensack, Under Damaris’ Dress, The Alphabet of Love, The Gentle Man, The Last Mojito, The Geographer’s Wife, Whistling to Trick the Wind, and This Body Is Never at Rest: New and Selected Poems 1993 – 2023, forthcoming from Meadowlark Press. He has taught at Glendale College, where he edited Eclipse, a literary journal, and, most recently, in the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. His work has been widely anthologized in textbooks published by City Lights Books, Etruscan Press, Fountainhead Press, Harcourt Brace, Longman, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Simon & Schuster, Thomson/Heinle, the University of Iowa Press, Wadsworth, and others. He lives in Pasadena, California.