“She is Feeding the Birds” by Gilles San Martin

She is Feeding the Birds

by Julie R. Enszer

Twice a week, she comes home
from the job she hates
with a ten-pound bag of birdseed.

At lunchtime, I buy fifty pound
bags of dog food for the puppy
who has hopelessly captured my heart.

She sprinkles seeds for the squirrels
and fills two feeders daily—one on a low branch
of the Holly, one hung near the back steps.

I roll on the floor with the 120-pound
St. Bernard, brushing her, cleaning her eyes,
wiping slobber from her face.

Blue birds, cardinals, wrens gather at dusk,
gorging on seeds, shitting on the bench
where we used to sip cocktails.

The squirrels grow fat.
She says, We don’t talk any more.
She says, You love the dog more than me.

The other day, she came home and birds,
singing outside the garage, welcomed her.
A squirrel ate a peanut from her hand.

About Julie R. Enszer

Julie R. Enszer is the author of Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2010) and Sisterhood, a chapbook (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010). She is the editor of Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2011), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry. Enszer has her MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry and her PhD in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland. She is a regular book reviewer for the Lambda Book Report and Calyx. You can read more of her work at www.JulieREnszer.com.