But Then
In times long past, you would have known
The wind, the birds, and how
Birds have a calling like your own.
You may not know this now.
The wind blows where it wills, we’re told;
Birds neither sow nor reap—
They sing into the wind their old
Songs that still laugh or weep.
But, then, you would have understood—
Have felt—their songs as prayer,
As happy or sad, as beauty and good,
As love filling the air.
Charles Hughes has published two books of poems, The Evening Sky (2020) and Cave Art (2014), both from Wiseblood Books. His poems have appeared in the Alabama Literary Review, Amethyst Review, The Christian Century, Literary Matters, Spiritus, and elsewhere and were included in the recent anthology Taking Root in the Heart (Paraclete Press). He worked for over 30 years as a lawyer and lives in the Chicago area with his wife.
Amethyst Review 