verse

Deliverance

A Poem by P.C. Scheponik

Posted: November 24, 2008


In the heat of the day
a sparrow settles
in a depression of dirt
on the side of the road,
puffs its small body,
a fluff of taupe feathers
with a dark chocolate throat
and a tail, light brown.
Gingerly, it hunkers down,
all breast pressed and wing flurries,
'til airy clouds of smoke
rise all around,
across its back, over its tail,
this feathered clown,
taking a bath in dust,
wriggling its body
deep in the trust of this world,
a ritual bath, the swirls of powdered
earth, lifting like particulate spirits
raised from the dead,
as the little bird writhes,
dipping its coated head
deeper, again and again
as if diving into the mystery
of earth's deliverance.

P.C. Scheponik -- pscheponik@mv3.edu -- teaches poetry and writing. He has been published in a number of small journals, among them Black Bear Review, The Thirteenth Warrior Review, Tripwire, Gnome, Labyrinth, and One Trick Pony. He has also published a book of poetry Psalms to Padre Pio. He was a runner up for Poet Laureate in Montgomery County, Pa., and received an Award of Merit in the WORDART Competition, sponsored by Onionhead Press. He is presently pursuing publication of a second book of poetry, And the Sun Still Dared to Shine, poems on the Holocaust.

 

Summer/Fall 2008 Poetry:

FEATURED POET: FIVE POEMS by Arlene Ang
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Jeanette Lee
ACTIVE LEARNING by Fred Jacobs
1946 by Steve De France
WHAT WE DO ALL DAY by Matthew Savoca
WHEN YOU WERE GOOD by Laurie Granieri (Editor's Choice)
LOVE WITHOUT SEX by John J. Petrolino III
DELIVERANCE by P.C. Scheponik
YOUR TASTE STILL LINGERS by Sarah Pace
AUTUMN by Cody Boyko
ETHEREAL by Arielle Hader
JUST EAST OF VINE by Ry Kincaid
SILENCE. by C.J. Opperthauser
BREVITY by Yi Dong
CRACKED CEILING IN A NEW ENGLAND COUNTRY HOUSE by Juanita Torrence-Thompson

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