And in the evening
I find myself desiring
the close-winged flutter
of gathering —
families and clans
home to roost,
home to the weighted warmth
of bodies who belong together,
long flights notwithstanding,
distances of years and thought
falling off
with the shrug of feathers
and the nestling in,
warm throughout the night.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 5, 2017