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Thomas Mitchell
Sparrows
A bitter morning,
Sparrows sitting together
bobbing their heads.
As I approach them
they shuffle their feathers,
then take to the air.
The tall line of smoke
from the neighbor’s chimney
rises like an apparition.
It’s at this moment
when I hear muffled footsteps
padding in the snow.
A stealthy red fox
sporting a sparrow
still flapping its wings.
About the writer:
Thomas Mitchell studied with Richard Hugo and Madeline De Frees at the University of Montana where he completed an MFA in Creative Writing. His poems have appeared in numerous journals including The New England Review, New Letters, California Quarterly, The New Orleans Review, Quarterly West, and The Chariton Review. Mitchell’s two collections of poetry, The Way Summer Ends (2016) and Caribou (2018) were published by Lost Horse Press. His new collection, Where We Arrive, was released in the Spring of 2021. Thomas Mitchell was recently selected as the recipient of the Cloudbank Poetry Award.
Image: Three Little Birds by Cassandra Lynn Miller (contemporary). Oil on unspecified medium. No size specified. 2020. By free license.
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