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Bird Bath
William Rumelhart
William Rumelhart is a poet and senior at Palo Alto High School. As editor-in-chief of his school literary magazine and co-president of his school creative writing club, he strives to create a space for students to share writing with others. His work has appeared in Scribere Magazine and Coe Review.
a shy sparrow alights
upon my garden wall,
limp and weary
in the afternoon heat.
head cocked, he listens
for that familiar gurgling,
but all is quiet.
he scours the garden
for that basin of refuge,
but all is dry.
in time, the gaping absence
overwhelms; he withdraws
into himself, turns, staggers
across the wall and out of sight.
alone by the window,
i await his return
until i too
succumb to absence.
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