Today I’m uniquely positioned
for gratitude. Take this
painting, hung just for me
in this house built just for me too
though neither of these things
are true. Take the downy
woodpecker dropping seeds
from the feeder to the waiting
squirrels. “See?” he says,
which is also a lie. According
to the bird book, I should note
his soft “pik!” and descending
rattle which is apparently
weaker than the larger hairy
woodpecker but for which
I am still immensely grateful
just as I am for his little red tuft,
for the squirrels’ elated upturned
faces, for the whole riparian
ecosystem, and for the artist
who chose to paint a picture
of a little white church
nestled into the dunes
when she had an entire great lake
roaring at her back.
GARRETT STACK’S first book is Yeoman’s Work (Bottom Dog Press, 2020). His poems were most recently published in Blue Earth Review, The Pinch, and Dunes Review. He lives, works, and will die Middle Western.
