i don’t know
what i expected
maybe being home
would relinquish
the darkness
of a week spent
in a foreign place
the sorrow
would lessen and
the tension itself
would melt away

instead i lay
in my own bed
staring at that
familiar ceiling
thinking
the same things
catching cat naps
and whispering
soft serenades

but the sparrows
missed me
and they came
to sing to me
of the sunrises missed
tales of seeds
and shiny things
reminding me
today is another day
as i crawled
from my slump
bathed in birdsong
under the silvery light
gleaming through
the cloud cover

i don’t know
what i expected
after too many miles
so far from home
but the sparrows
knew what i needed
their symphony
filling my hollow skull
as i told them
about wildflower smiles
and deep brown eyes
and the tension
lessened its hold
albeit briefly
but enough to
recatch my breath

only the ceiling
remembers it all
but it will be hours
until we chat again
instead i blow these
tired kisses
to flutter gently
to her sleeping heart
and that’s enough
to get me through
another clustered day