“Serenade” by Julianna McCarthy

Serenade

Once the house is washed, folded, and put away,
come, sit on the backsteps and listen to the night.
First a siren, here, gone, then a dog near, gone
now moonrise as the mockingbird sings
the house sparrow's morning song

Try standing
Before it's time for capture, close your eyes
watch your flight across the idle stars
Wanting is breathless, having is stone
A few steps now
We could sit in the car

Julianna McCarthy

Julianna McCarthy is an award-winning Los Angeles poet. Her poems have appeared in the Antioch Review, Catamaran, Nimrod, Hole in the Head, and others. She has published two chapbooks, Photoplay and Everything Hurts. Her first full-length collection, Night Surgery, is available from Blue Horse Press.

Headshot: Brendan Constantine

Photo Credit: Staff