god. 15

a new study posits that proximity
to a wide array of bird species 
increases happiness across age-gender-race

which makes me think
whatever god is wants us
to be adorable 

and reverent and always listening
yesterday i taught a brief history 
of the armenian genocide to ten students

most had never heard of nearly
two million herded into deserts
beheaded shot starved left to vultures

we inherit so much devastation 
even if it’s not our own 
it is ours to carry it has to be

so let us lug it around outside
early enough to catch the first songs
let’s make of this a mourning dove 

a flock of green parrots 
hidden-chirping in the mango tree 
across the street

BRENDAN WALSH

Brendan Walsh has lived and taught in South Korea, Laos, and South Florida. His work appears in Rattle, Glass Poetry, American Literary Review, and other journals. He is the winner of America Magazine’s 2020 Foley Poetry Prize and the author of five collections, including Buddha vs. Bonobo (Sutra Press) and fort lauderdale (Grey Book Press). His chapbook concussion fragment is forthcoming from Elsewhere press.