The Return
We are heartened
when each year
the barn swallows
return.
They find their old nests,
teach their young to fly,
lining up on the barn roof
for their first flight.
They remind us,
for now, some rituals
of this good earth
continue.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Jonathan Greene, "The Return," from Afloat, (Broadstone Books, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of Jonathan Greene and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.