“The Nest,” a poem
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Today Hola Cultura is pleased to present the poem, “The Nest,” by Liliana Dossola, a McLean resident originally from Argentina. This poem won first place in the poetry category in the Celebration of the Arts, a contest sponsored by The Beacon newspaper and the Maryland Federation of the Arts.
THE NEST
Setting: our garage.
Something small and grey dashes past my head.
I instinctively duck.
Then I discover “the something” is now perched on the door:
it’s a bird,
a fist of palpitating feathers and a pair of tiny defiant eyes.
Ah…now I see, you, a minuscule mother bird,
are defending a nest from me, a giant.
How I admire your spirit and courage!
Your nest is a skein of dry leaves, lint and rubble,
painstakingly woven in a corner, by the ladder.
But your choice of placement is unfortunately bad:
in a garage that stays closed most of the day,
in a house with two cats.
I feel a growing anger at you as the days go by.
You make reaching my car difficult
by swooping and making me run;
dominate the space with warning chirps,
and yesterday…, you let your droppings fall on my hat.
But today I don’t see you.
Free of nuisance I walk around now.
Where are you?
But I miss you… Please come back.
Then I discover your inert body outside.
I want to hug you, I want to cry
You were so fragile, yet strong!
Bad cat!
While dying, were you worrying
about the orphan eggs you were leaving behind?
It falls on me to keep them safe now
and I make you a promise,
while I bury you in the yard.
I see a robin’s nest in the apple tree, up high.
In it there are eggs of a certain coloring and size.
I lovingly transfer yours there, one by one.
From the vantage point of my kitchen window,
I wait patiently for mother robin to come back.
When she does, cocking her head, she studies the eggs.
Who knows what she is thinking…
But to my relief, she finally lies down.
By Spring, from the nest
comes a murmur of chicks of different kinds.
To the place under the tree where you lie,
I come to tell you that I fulfilled my promise,
now rest in peace my little mother bird.
Liliana Luppi Dossola was born in Buenos Aires and graduate summa cum laude from Northern Virginia Community College in the field of commercial art. She has authored the book, “Along the Way Impressions Captured in Literary and Pictorial Forms,” published by Xlibris, and has contributed to several publications. She’s the past president and historian of the Mclean Art Society and previously served as cultural director of Alianza Latina, USA. Ms. Dossola, who publishes her work in English and Spanish, is a member of the National League of Women of the Pen and the local writers organizations: Arlington Writers Group, and Alta hora de la Noche. Congratulations Liliana!
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