Special Feature Collaborative Poem--By Wale Owoade--Nigeria and Laura M. Kaminski--United States

After a Generation

By Wale Owoade and Laura M. Kaminski

After a generation of listening
to wind tapping out its words
in softened Morse upon leaves,
this tree is ready, trained
sufficiently in silence, practiced.

After a generation of listening
to silence that doesn’t flinch
to fading lyrics of furnace ghosts,
this street is cold, washed
the way gone bodies are.

After a generation of fading heat
this cold street still listens,
waits for the first of the wilderness
to return, the first refugee reclaimed
the voice of the first bird.

After a generation of fading calls
the first bird returned to the tree
rhythms recalled the lyrics of a blue song
the ghosts forgot to hug friends
the first bird preached a dream.