Meg Freer

Fly Away

On our stroll around the block,
you walk up to a house, return
to me and announce in words
that would sadden any mother,
Parsley doesn’t live there anymore.
At your birth the doctor gave me
a plush baby bird, told me to hold
my girl gently but allow her to fly.
Your imaginary friend for years--
gone—and you, growing up.



Meg Freer grew up in Montana and lives in Ontario, where she works as an editor and teaches piano. She has co-authored a chapbook, Serve the Sorrowing World with Joy (Woodpecker Lane Press, 2020). Her photos, poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and journals such as The Sunlight Press, Young Ravens Literary Review, Eastern Iowa Review, Sequestrum and Ruminate.