The restlessness of the restless

Herman Sutter

May 7, 2023

squirrel leaping stump to stump,

scattering sparrows and wanting

wanting wanting always wanting

what the blue jay already has:

peanut, seed, a splash of water, 

the flash of blue chattering,

an unseen sky beyond the ever 

green pausing never wondering why 

the leaves are filled with laughter

and hunger always has such wings.

Herman Sutter is the author of Stations (Wiseblood Books), The World Before Grace (Wings Press), and “The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism,” by St. Anthony Messenger.  His writing appears in: The Perch (Yale University), The Langdon Review, Cider Press Review, Iris, and The Ekphrastic Review, as well as the anthologies: Texas Poetry Calendar (2021) & By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press, 2019).  Recipient of the 2021 Best Essay award from the Catholic Media Association, he also received the Innisfree Prize for Poetry. His latest poetry collection A Theology of Need was long-listed for the Sexton Prize.