The Cardinal Ballet

The colors of this late winter day

Are muted.

Ashy snow-threatening sky

White birch trees stand tall

Planted in the dirty snow.

Even the pine trees exude

A verdant boredom.

Then a flash of red sparks

Through the air.

Then a second

And a third.

Three wondrously colored

Cardinals alight on the

Cold.

I watch them flit from

Tree to tree.

Their delicate winged ballet

Enthralling me.

Reminding me that

Spring is not far away.

Not Alone

On this day commemorating

Love

My thoughts turn to those

Who are

Marginalized

Abused

Bullied

Beaten down

Physically

Mentally

Spiritually

My thoughts turn to those

Who feel the bitter sting

Of isolation.

I wish I could reach out

And tell them all

How much love in

The world

There is for them.

I wish I could reach out

And give them the

Tenderness and compassion

They are longing for.

To show them that

They are not truly

Alone.

The Crumbling Wall

My goal is in reach.

I see it through a broken

Stone wall.

Each exam passed

Has cracked another

Section into rubble

Which lies scattered

On the ground beneath.

Why my mind has

Conjured up this image

I don’t know.

Yet, here I stand

In my mind’s eye.

In front of a crumbling

Stone wall.

The Ice-Covered Yard

My dog stands rooted to the

Spot where he stands.

I have called him

But in his mind

He can’t obey.

His usually verdant yard

Is now covered

In splotchy grey ice.

Some primal instinct

Is speaking to him.

Telling him not to go across.

The hard frozen surface.

I watch him and feel

His mind working.

Looking right and left

He finally finds

His way back to me

And jumps up,

Pleased with himself

And this reunion.