Augury
This author is a recipient
of the Sigma Tau Delta Award
Emily Kingery
is the author of Invasives (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and the recipient of several honors in poetry and prose. Her work appears widely in journals. She teaches English at St. Ambrose University and serves on the Board of Directors at the Midwest Writing Center, a non-profit supporting writers in the Quad Cities community (mwcqc.org). Read more of her work at emilykingery.com.
I see a fallen sparrow, so
I search sparrow + omen but
return so many birds, most
named after men I do not
recognize, though maybe
they are still alive, maybe
close, and we could meet
for coffee, get to-go cups
and a Honey Bun to split,
my treat. It’s nice to think
of this, as if they might be
searching, too, these men
whose names I swipe at
gas stations, names like
names of Tinder men who
smoke the kind of cigarettes
that you once did. It’s nice
to think of this, of living
in a fated world in spite
of whatever it means.