“/ˈmīɡrənt/,” by Tiana Nobile (Poetry ’17)

2017 poetry alum Tiana Nobile was recently featured in Lit Hub and Poetry Daily. Read an excerpt of Nobile’s poem, “/ˈmīɡrənt/,” below:

/ˈmīɡrənt/

Of an animal, especially a bird. A wandering species
whom no seas nor places limit. A seed who survives despite
the depths of hard winter. The ripple of a herring

steering her band from icy seas to warmer strands.
To find the usual watering-places despite
the gauze of death that shrouds our eyes

is a breathtaking feat. Do you ever wonder why
we felt like happy birds brushing our feathers
on the tips of leaves? How we lifted our toes

from one sandbank and landed – fingertips first –
on another? Why we clutched the dumb and tiny creatures
of flower and blade and sod between our budding fists?

Read the poem in its entirety here: https://poems.com/poem/migrant/