A Bed as a Nest
– Poetry by Jarrett Ziemer –
Honorable Mention in the 2023 Dreamers Sense of Place & Home Contest
A female Common Yellowthroat
builds a well concealed nest
in 4 to 5 days, migrates,
from Alabama to California,
to escape,
segregated segmented leaves
looking for trees
so densely packed,
to summer in sunshine means
to live within the shade.
A female Common Yellowthroat
mates for life,
with a male,
a few different males,
who know she’s ready
when she flutters her wings,
flushes her black face purple,
chirps in their ear,
and then crushes a Camel
into an opaque ashtray.
A female common yellowthroat is a forager
picking pedals for insects for moths, wasps,
butterflies in her belly,
that only dissipate in the rain
of cough syrup and smoke and Jack Daniels
dripping down her beak,
and onto the bed she lolls in,
where she succumbs to the fact that she is a prey species,
that there are articles that flight cannot handle,
that Northern Harriers and American Kestrels,
and Merlins — hawks —
hawking lungs fluid filled sacs tired feet
aching claws and depression and addiction so deep,
she sometimes just wants to sleep in her bed forever,
are always out to get her.
About the Author – Jarrett Ziemer
Jarrett Ziemer holds a B.A. in Professional and Creative Writing from Central Washington University and is currently an MFA student at Western Colorado University. In 2022 Jarrett was the featured poet at the 33rd Annual Headwaters Conference, and his poem “A Fish-Tenkara” was awarded an honorable mention in Deep Wild Journals 2023 graduate student writing contest. You can find Jarrett’s other work in The Manastash Literary Journal, The Belmont Story Review, Variant Literature, Creative Nonfiction Magazine at Jarrettgziemer.com and at instagram.com/jarrettziemer.
Did you like this poem by Jarrett Ziemer? Then you might also like:
The Identified Patient
What I want the surgeon to know
Sanctuary, and other poems
The Body as Poem
Metaplasia and other poems
This is What Death Does
Where Courage Lives
The Psychiatric Patient Profiled in My Application
Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality
To check out all the poetry available on Dreamers, visit our poetry section.
Like reading print publications? Consider subscribing to the Dreamers Magazine!
Dreamers Magazine Issue 18 Now Available
We’re pleased to announce the release of Issue 18 of the Dreamers Magazine, featuring our Haiku Contest winners. Get your copy now!
Enter the Dreamers Flash Contest – Due Sept. 30
Submit a fiction or nonfiction story of between 300 and 1000 words for your chance to win! The winner will receive $150 CAD and a copy of the Dreamers magazine.