His call seeks,
delicate.
Floating reed thin
over the chirp of crickets.
Could he know his risingfalling pitch echos
to charm ghosts?
Would he call, still?
Still-beaked
his mates sleep
with history now,
with the quiet earth
deaf
to the open sky
the cool grass,
his mating dirge.
Cassandra Baliga
Cassandra Baliga is a graduate of PFW with a B.A. in English and a concentration in writing. Her poetry has appeared in multiple journals including Cold Mountain Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, Lucky Jefferson, and Local Honey. She is also a two-time winner of the DeKalb Snowbound Writer’s Poetry Contest.