The Ostrich Speaks
Aren’t you jealous of my vertebrae,
my sassy eye, and feather boa?
My beak can caress or destroy
the ripe plum in your hand.
What do you prefer, fun-loving or aloof?
My ancestors left me flightless
with these downed, grounded legs.
I don’t need a dog-eared map to find
savannah and water shared in the afternoon
with the wildebeest and zebra.
I know my way. I am my roar.
Though many have still taken my plumes,
placing them in soldier’s helmets and finery.
But I am a warrior with memory and wing-heat.
I am the tail and the tongue of this harem
that will outrun you when you give chase.
---
Anti-Ode for a Song Sparrow
Why are you here? What do you offer
beyond your shrill and tenor in the early hours?
Your plumage isn’t so beautiful—
russet stripes on crown and eye, tail and malar
wood-banded and white. Are you waiting
for something while you sing on the branch?
Your calling is steady through the day—
armed with song and stance. A life so small
I am ashamed to see you. All of you
open to weather and attack, yet you live
like the whole world is ready to ignite if you stop.
Are you waiting for a lost love?
Trust me, she is not here. Stop your sorrow
for your heart-loss. Take a look at the shifting
beyond your tree—all lash and whale-sighted
and think of yourself as a resigned dove.
You are smarter than your body, so flinch away
from any hope and let me sleep in peace
just a little longer until we both are silent as a ghost. ---
9/20/2024
Jona Colson is Queer poet, educator, and translator. His poetry collection, Said Through Glass, won the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. He is also the translator of Aguas/Waters by Miguel Avero and the co-editor of This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Fiction from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (The Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2021). His poems, translations, and interviews have appeared in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, LitHub, and elsewhere. He is a professor of ESL at Montgomery College and lives in Washington, D.C.
