Council Grove: Five Swallows
By Denise Low

Crammed into a mud-daubed
nest, under white-
board eaves:

ten eyes — onyx
beads — ten identical
eye-stripes,

miniature wings
enfold
into collapsed umbrellas.

Above Victorian houses
kite-
winged shadows

dip into river
rise into sky
with insect prizes

arrow into wind
return
and return again.

— Denise Low teaches at Haskell Indian Nations University. Poet’s Showcase features work by area poets. Submit your poetry via e-mail to mpaget@ljworld.com or send typewritten submissions to Mindie Paget, 645 N.H., Lawrence 66044, attn: Poet’s Showcase.