Every Bird is a Miracle is a small but mighty work of poetry and art. One would think perhaps that ornithology may not always be the most useful allegory, but in the case of this work, it’s brilliantly used. While poems like Thaw are a coming of age story of beaks and plumage, Tiny Things is like an ode to the speculative imagination – what we cannot know but wish to be true. There is longing and pain, too, hiding in the whimsy.
I didn’t believe the story about the hospital, or the fake scar. I could picture the two of you floating together, bodies entwined, defying gravity.
From Tango Tuesdays, Every Bird is a Miracle, Tara Roeder & Arman Safa
The imagery throughout is beautiful – the hand drawn art of Arman Safa usually depicting birds being cared for by humans – an ode to the complexity of relationships and how often we may be hiding in order to sustain someone else – only to have them no longer need us, and leave to live in the wilds.
The strength of these poems is not hidden by it’s subject, but amplified by it, and while brief, is still moving.
Purchase your copy of Every Bird is a Miracle from New Michigan Press.