I don’t want her to see me
crying and incapable to comfort 

her. When you are most needy,
you are most alone. Birds know,

while they fly, they’re just part
of a flock, flecking the sky

with feathers. Nobody answers
ceaseless calls for help. 

The ones I love will go on
with their little lives— 

reading, running,
fucking. They won’t just 

get by; they’ll be happy.
Even the dog will forget me.

Jennifer Franklin has published two full-length collections, most recently No Small Gift (Four Way Books, 2018). Her third book, If Some God Shakes Your House, will be published by Four Way Books in 2023. Her work is in the September/October 2020 issue of American Poetry Review and has appeared in Boston Review, Love’s Executive Order, The Nation, Paris Review, “poem-a-day” on poets.org, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. She teaches in Manhattanville’s MFA program and the Hudson Valley Writers Center, where she serves as Program Director. Her website is jenniferfranklinpoet.com.