Ornithology by Jeannie Wallace McKeown

The women in my family
return as birds
when they are done being women.
Grandmothers and great-grandmothers:
bokmakierie, wagtails, hoopoes.
(from the poem, Ornithology)

In this powerful second collection, award-winning South African poet Jeannie Wallace McKeown maps the landscape of loss with unflinching honesty and lyrical grace. Set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, these poems navigate the intimate terrain of grief following the death of her parents, transforming everyday moments—from morning tea to grocery shopping—into profound meditations on love and survival. With clear-eyed precision and without descending into sentimentality, McKeown reminds us that in our shared vulnerability lies our deepest connection to life itself. These are poems that demand to be felt, understood, and returned to again and again.