WILLIAM AARNES

William Aarnes lives in Clemson, South Carolina, with his wife Beth. He teaches at Furman University. His poems have appeared in such publications as The American Scholar, Ploughshares, Poet and Critic, The South Carolina Review, and The Southern Review.



Dawn
*****
On a limb across the street
some unidentifiable bird
keeps wheezing

                         --wheezing
the way the air conditioner might
every time you think you've fixed it
and switch it back on, the odor
thick, electric

                     --no, wheezing
like a child you've lain with all night,
her forehead still hot to the wrist.

The bird wheezes

                             but no wheeze responds

and you keep listening, hoping
the next wheeze is the first note
of glee.

 


*************** Copyright William Aarnes


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