Radio
the notes came
as light fell in soft patterns
from the window
Wherever you are
I am looking for you
his song stopped me
here on this side of the earth
he was African
from a tribe whose name was like a bird call
they said he had paid the invading tribe
to shoot his wife
instead of hacking her down by Machete
I might have wondered why he was spared
or tried to imagine his life and mine
existing in the same world
but his song was so beautiful
that I knew she heard it
as we all did then
pausing in the middle of our morning kitchens
by Nanci Dailey
from Poet Seat Poetry, 2017