Homecoming
The birds come back
but they don’t tell us stories.
Their wings remember nothing,
are never knowledge.
We don’t remember our birth,
when a mother dies, it’s gone.
but they don’t tell us stories.
Their wings remember nothing,
are never knowledge.
We don’t remember our birth,
when a mother dies, it’s gone.
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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 ©2021 by Victoria Chang, “Homecoming” from The Trees Remember Everything (Copper Canyon Press, 2022). Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.