Sparrow
A sparrow
with the first down
payment on a house
clutched in his beak,
takes off with bits of string
and balls of fluff
to make the sky
a Blue Room for his love;
but what I'm here for I
don't know—unless
it is to build
Him whose child I am *
a nest—of broken vows
and twigs of faith, a word-
house where his Word
may come and sing.
*(Whipple has “son” rather than “child”)
"Sparrow" by George Whipple, from
TOM THOMSON AND OTHER POEMS
Penumbra Press, ISBN 1-894131-118
www.penumumbrapress.ca
with permission of the author and publisher
Premiered by the women of the University of Guelph Chamber Choir,
Marta McCarthy director, 08 July 2005 at Festival 500, St John's Newfoundland