Perennial Cardinals

A giant maple tree

magnified morel

zoomed out

galaxy scheme

I brushed my fingers against living bark

to stand still as a deer

waiting

maybe

it was the chill in the air

the heavy silence follows

migrated birds

whispered

“Stay.”

I sat on roots

under a sparse canopy

rustic leaves

and peeked up at the sky

my shoulders slowly uncurl back from my ears

to fall into the letter T

my jaw slacken

unburdened

in the whipping wind

A partition of branches and leaves

yanked

lifting

dry parchment, sheet paper

light

to swirl higher

and higher

falling

from the bright sky

into the moist folds of earth

disappearing

eventual

while red cardinals descend

pin dots-

widen into shape

They’ve already molted.

Crimson feathers

land

at my feet

Swift

dramatic

mundane

staying through every season

of me