Matthew Murrey


Godwit


I’m thinking of it flying with no rest
for five and a half days over the ocean
that might as well be infinity
for one so small and only halfway there.

One time flying, I was halfway there
and from the safety of my seat
looked seven miles down
to see nothing but sea.
The huge airplane that carried us
was but a strand of hair, or needle
against the vastness down there.

A godwit weighs not a pound,
yet flies eleven days without cease
across seven thousand miles of sea
before reaching the southern bay
where it is summer, not the winter
I cannot leave. I warm to it,

the journey long on promise
and risk, no maps or guarantees—
just water, wind, sun and the certain
stars every clear night until it ends.

Also by Matthew Murrey: "Driving the Falcon," "In the Thick of It" (2019 Erotic Poetry Contest Winner)
In the store: "In the Thick of It" (broadside)

Matthew Murrey’s poems have appeared widely, recently in One Art, Autofocus, and Anthropocene. He’s an NEA Fellowship recipient, and his debut collection, Bulletproof, was published in 2019 by Jacar Press. He’s in his last year as a public school librarian in Urbana, Illinois, where he lives with his partner. His website is matthewmurrey.net, and you can find him on Twitter and Instagram @mytwords.

ISSN 2472-338X
© 2021