As the Crow Flies

Judith Shepard

• Publisher: The Permanent Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780932966469
• eBook ISBN: 9781504028585
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

A collection of poems by Judith Shepard, co-publisher at The Permanent Press.

Part One

AS THE CROW FLIES

As the crow flies

so too, my thoughts

where the sound of blue

and the touch of plum

nest.

Back to the best of the best

of

summer days that

lie with the scent of honeysuckle

and the grass on the old baseball diamond

held young bodies

listening

to the sound of river splashes

over

round white stones.

My life stretches out

unwinding like a shiny yellow ribbon.

Now I wind it about my hand

to see how far I went and where.

Part Two

THE BACKYARD

The backyard

was

a mysterious thing

full of petals.

Silky and velvet

they promised sweet nectar

to sip

delicately.

I could lay down

on green grass

smell it deeply

chew one slender stalk

while spying the solitary bleeding heart

mysterious and passionate

at the end of

the garden path.

The lilac bushes

higher than high

roses and phlox

surrounded me

and I was four

or seven.

There were bushes with

white berries to

pop

under your thumb.

Bushes with red berries

to split with your fingernails and

discover their hidden black seeds

nestled inside

sleeping.

An occasional blossomed eccentric

knowing it’s special

peered

between the commoners

with majestic indifference.

Once I saw

a hummingbird

blue like a robin’s egg

so small

so perfect

I thought I had

dreamt it.

Roses grew in pink

profusion

up the lattice work.

Wearing them

in my hair

at the Fourth of July parade

I didn’t win a ribbon but

thought

I was beautiful.

Those days I was

an innocent dewdrop

a fresh faced daisy

watching my Grandmother

in her blue coolie hat

digging with patient fingers

tenderly

touching

her garden.

Those days have

drifted pass

as swift as wind

carried aloft into

the corner of

my mind

Now I watch this

cool white world and

wait for Spring

eager to fi...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven
• Part Eight
• Part Nine
• Copyright Page