Rebuilding (BioScience, September 2020)

Authors: Rob Jackson

Rebuilding

Jeans hung on the line

between tattered socks and an aqua t-shirt

with Big Wave golden ale stenciled across its back.

The nest peeked optimistically

from a denim pocket, a mix of stolen threads

and bits of sticks collected in a day's work.

At dusk, I shook out the pants

and a wren launched from pocket to branch,

chattering over grass and cobwebs

and ripped paper strips now littering the deck.

I’d scattered its home in a curl of blue,

the way a tsunami shatters lives,

flattens apartment buildings,

parts flats from foundations, erases shacks

nestled in cluttered pockets and alleys.

Afterwards, people gather to sift through wood and sticks,

pick up splintered furniture and bits of clothing and paper

lying crumpled on the ground.

When the screen door slammed a few days later,

I saw the wren flit off a new nest,

proud and confident that this time it would endure,

would remain safe and secure

now perched on the lamp by the porch.

rebuilding_jackson_bioscience_2020.pdf