The Return

We are heartened
when each year
the barn swallows
return.

They find their old nests,
teach their young to fly,
lining up on the barn roof
for their first flight.

They remind us,
for now, some rituals
of this good earth
continue.

Copyright Credit: Poem copyright ©2018 by Jonathan Greene, "The Return," from Afloat, (Broadstone Books, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of Jonathan Greene and the publisher.