Love Song

Love Song
by Carol Muske-Dukes

Love comes hungry to anyone’s hand.
I found the newborn sparrow next to
the tumbled nest on the grass. Bravely

opening its beak. Cats circled, squirrels.
I tried to set the nest right but the wild
birds had fled. The knot of pin feathers

sat in my hand and spoke. Just because
I’ve raised it by touch, doesn’t mean it
follows. All day it pecks at the tin image of

a faceless bird. It refuses to fly,
though I’ve opened the door. What
sends us to each other? He and I

had a blue landscape, a village street,
some poems, bread on a plate. Love
was a camera in a doorway, love was

a script, a tin bird. Love was faceless,
even when we’d memorized each other’s
lines. Love was hungry, love was faceless,

the sparrow sings, famished, in my hand.

After first reading this poem, I was left feeling slightly bewildered, but it seems as though it was the author's intention to show the ambiguity of love. It is clear that the author uses the metaphor of the baby bird to represent love, as it willingly comes to those who will accept it. However, after the cats and squirrels circled the baby birds' nest, they flew away, which represents the corruption of love by other people. Also, it is possible that the hand holding the baby bird represents a companion--possibly a parent, sibling, or lover--as it is nurturing, but might not always be welcomed by the bird. In the line "It refuses to fly / though I've opened the door," it seems as though the bird does not want to leave the comfort of the hand that it knows so well. In the next few lines, the author discusses the various forms that love can take through describing different objects. She also says that love is faceless, which seems to mean that it is not only meant for one person, but rather is a universal emotion. The author ends the poem by stating, "the sparrow sings, famished, in my hand," which seems to mean that it was unable to find love. In the beginning, it says that "love comes hungry to anyone's hand," which is why the bird found comfort in the narrator's hand for so long. However, because the bird is famished at the end, it seems that he is so hungry for love and can no longer find it in the person's hand. After reading this poem in depth, it is clear that the author is trying to communicate the uncertainty of what may seem to be a very strong love, which is shown through the example of the baby bird and the person's hand.