As My Tea Grows Cold

 

The last good kiss

you had was years ago.

    Richard Hugo, "Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg"

  

 

 

An old married couple, the brilliant and raucous cardinal and his more somber mate, not reserved but content to not be the center of attention. 

He has been singing for an hour, waiting, not patiently, for the sunflower seeds I toss under the pines each morning just after dawn, taking one now and cracking it, letting the husks fall, bowing a little and placing the seed

in her beak; does this again and again, she neither demanding nor demure, not gratitude as much as grace, hers and the acceptance of his, leaning a little into him each time. Both utterly delicate gestures, a sacrament, rite and ritual of a long knowing, the giving and receiving and sharing of their seasons together.  This morning, these years, there is no love like theirs.





Poetry by countryfog
Read 631 times
Written on 2015-06-29 at 16:49

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Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Nicely done, Fog. This is an interesting format. It looks like a paragraph, but reads like a poem. The story itself is enlightening. I never knew how cardinals got along. I've always just thought of them as attractive, but noisy, birds.
2015-07-02



I was really surprised the other day to hear what a beautiful song cardinals make. And both the male and the female are stunning creatures--he in red almost gaudy; she in a slightly more subdued and muted red. Why go to a marriage or sex counselor when birds and other creatures tell us all we need to know about love?
2015-07-01


Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
That must be so wonderful to watch. I would imagine that not many people take the time to understand and see these things. Let alone to speculate so nicely on their relationship in this piece as you have done.
2015-07-01



I agree with Joe – this is a lovely picture indeed, my friend.
Here at BirdBrains, we do not have cardinals, so it is pleasant to know them so well through your words. The description is as delicate as the gestures and a joy to read.
Applause!
2015-06-30


josephus The PoetBay support member heart!
I have cardinals in my back yard also. They are lovely birds but the males are rather raucous as you say. You paint a lovely picture.
2015-06-29