Patterns

by John Sibley Williams

Down the steep drop-off to sea
without plummeting.
Returned by thermals and sweat to the sky
without rising.
Each following the lost one before it,
thirteen sandpipers and their aluminum streaks
write one word for me in the air
and at the same time
erase it.

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John Sibley Williams is the author of six chapbooks, winner of the HEART Poetry Award, and finalist for the Pushcart, Rumi, and The Pinch Poetry Prizes. He has served as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and publicist for various presses and authors, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing and MA in Book Publishing. A few previous publishing credits include: Inkwell, Bryant Literary Review, Cream City Review, The Chaffin Journal, The Evansville Review, RHINO, Rosebud, and various anthologies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.