Samuel Tongue

Double; or a short essay on perception
Columba livia

And he […] sent forth the dove; which
returned not again unto him any more.
                                                                      Gen 8:12

And she won’t return because
she’s here, bowling over the bird-feeder,
leaving Rorschachs of shit
through my porch and roosting
like a gargoyle atop the door.
It is said that if you bury gold
in pigeon dung, it is increased;
then I’m a bloody millionaire.
All I know is that Noah’s pigeon
is a sparrow-loving gossip,
an ambrosia-beaked magnetic spirit,
rounded with soul-bearing.
A liar. A water-diviner. A pretence
of a dove, exploding with peace
every time she lands.
I’ll miss her when she’s gone.

Samuel Tongue's first pamphlet is Hauling-Out (Eyewear, 2016) and his second, stitch, is forthcoming with Tapsalteerie. He has published poems in numerous anthologies and magazines and was awarded a Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Award in 2013. He is currently co-editor of New Writing Scotland and poetry editor at the Glasgow Review of Books.