This poem was inspired by a photograph, “Little Nest,” by poet/artist Julene Waffle. The emptiness of the nest struck me, bringing back my experiences of bearing and raising a child. Taking liberties with the pantoum form felt appropriate for a poem about a bird’s nest woven of repeating strands, and the weaving of thoughts about the unpredictability of bringing new life into the world.

Joanne Durham is the author of To Drink from a Wider Bowl, winner of the Sinclair Poetry Prize (Evening Street Press 2022) and the chapbook, On Shifting Shoals, (Kelsay Books 2023). She lives on the North Carolina coast, with the ocean as her backyard and muse.

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