This poem parallels a mother bird building a nest and a parent raising a child before each sends their young off into the world.
by Julia S. Jordan-Zachery | illustration by Lidia Churakova

Julia S. Jordan-Zachery is a professor and the chair of the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department at Wake Forest University. Jordan-Zachery has also produced the documentary Healing Roots and the chapbook Eat the Meat & Spit out the Bones.

Lidia Churakova is a painter, designer, and mural artist who lives in Raleigh.

This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of WALTER magazine.