Sometimes when I look back on my life, I think about how one seemingly small decision changed the trajectory of my life: going to graduate school at the last minute; getting on a plane to Mexico to teach and leaving so many things I loved behind; saying yes to someone and then later ignoring the doubts; driving into the mountains on a late May day (even though I didn’t feel like it) and meeting the man who would become the love of my life.

The following poem (“The Patron Saint Of Airport Sparrows”) is, for me, about decisions and trajectories, and how we alter our lives sometimes without knowing we are, only realizing it looking back. James Davis May starts with the setup in just a few words (giving us context for why the speaker is in the airport), and then takes a moment and a detail—a bird—and makes meaning of it, relates it to the life and circumstance of the speaker. Here is the poem:

This poem was reprinted here with permission of the poet. It was originally published in The Sun (December 2023).

You can learn more about May here. May’s most recent poetry collection is Unusually Grand Ideas.

Thank you so much, James Davis May, for this tender poem. It has quickly become one of my favorite poems ever.

It’s National Poetry Month. Every week on my blog during the month of April, I share poems I love from contemporary writers. I hope to pique your interest in poetry, if it needs to be piqued, and to show you that a really great poem can be accessible to all.

“See” you soon with another fabulous poem.

(Photo credit: Yousef Alfuhigi from Unsplash dot com. )