Magic Infusion
Joy Boy bounces on pointy rocks,
springs coiled in his fidget feet,
eyes two ducks as they bop, up
and down, in Narraganset Bay—
their buoyance a breath-beat
in his little lungs.
His father approaches me
on my walk along the rim.
I say, Pure joy, he dances
with ducks! Father says,
He knows everything about birds!
Joy Boy leaps towards me, points
to House Sparrows, tells me,
They come from Europe –
they’re not indigenous.
Indigenous – a word too large
for his small O-shaped mouth.
He swerves his legs, spindles
beneath a rubbery spine. Sputters
a story of how he heard birds
in their drying machine vent.
Made his father open it – saved
House Sparrows who flew free.
His father shows me Merlin
on his phone – Merlin the bird App,
that identifies all birds surrounding us:
ducks, egrets, swallows – coded
by bird calls, songs, chirps, tweets.
I remember my two grown sons
when they were boys,
how one could tell you every fact
about a pearl and its formation,
how the other ran like wind across
meadows, balance-beamed on stone
fences as if shattering bones
was not a thing.
I want to be a boy infused with joy,
Merlin – holding all bird music
in his electronic magician’s beak,
an elegant egret flying high in a berry-blue sky
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Read by Sandra Beth Levy
Sandra Beth Levy has published poetry widely, nationally and internationally, in literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. She has two poems shortlisted for the 2026 Rough Diamond Poetry Prize. Her debut poetry chapbook with Finishing Line Press will be available for presale in October 2026. Find her on Instagram @slevy43.