Azygous*

2011 Merit Award

By Laura Boynton

Azygous

A sharp shard of a word
To lodge in every unmated, unmatched soul
Swans, red-tailed hawks, eagles, owls
Can sustain lifelong partnerships
Is it because owlets fledge
And cygnets swim away?
And human mothers are left
Picking up
A rubber band a hairbrush a Lego
A pair of scissors a slipper
A library book a marble a fork
A sweatshirt a cartoon
And then
Washing up
A counter a floor a table
A dish a load of clothes
A car seat a pan a window
A dog a child
Is it because the biological imperative
To mate
Withers inside the husk of routine
Rattles, infertile
Mateless mother
More alone for keeping three aloft
Wax wings dripping, ruined.

*Copyright 2011 by Laura Boynton. Placard design by Egress Studio.