Overheard Poem by George Witte

The silenced coalesce within
disturbances of air.
Ascending ladderways of rain
they hasten everywhere:

abandoned nests in winter trees,
high eave or tunnelled mound,
safe anchorage for refugees
run merciless to ground.

But listening between the din
of transit and delay,
long lulls in conversation when
one hesitates to say

the unrepentant shibboleth,
frail secret couched in flame,
I hear them whisper under breath
and recognize my name.

From An Abundance of Caution (Unbound Edition Press,2023)