“Listen” and “For Troy Davis” from Love Poems by Charles Bane

Listen

Listen: when I was a child, I explored the jungle of ferns
near my house on the island where the hibiscus close like
shutters at night. I found sometimes living things and
scooping them up, felt them beating in my hands. I blew
between my fingers and thought they would remember the
signature of my soul when they were free. That is how I
love you.

For Troy Davis

You were not a monster,
but gold robed and smiling,
shyly looked directly at a
camera lens and held a thumb
up as Emmet Till might have
done if he had earned a degree;
I wish I could have set you
free; there are flocks of you
migrating in the long and
practiced curves of boys who know
the difference between a cage
and the beat of air beneath
uncreased wings.