Featured Poem: Family Tree

By Rachael Ikins
Bayou City II Branch

 

 

I fill sunflower feeders for the chickadees in January.

February they will start their yearning

two-note whistle,

nest.

 

Blue spruce tree, garden guardian

dense with needles safe for small

baskets to hold eggs barely bigger

than a snow pea.

 

I fill sunflower feeders in the wind

hoping they can eat before the next storm

blows a momentary burial.

 

Last fall I found a nest on the grass left by some gust.

I’ve collected seven by now, we lived here eight years.

I gave one to a friend.

 

When I brush the cat, when I brush my hair

I toss the leavings into the air.

 

This weaving balanced on my palm,

threaded through, my gold and

silver, its softest center.

 

If that isn’t what life on earth

Is then I don’t know

what could

explain it

better.

 

4 comments

  1. Andrea Walker says:

    Lovely thoughts and imagery: sunflowers, nests, two-note whistle, threads of gold and silver. I love the balance and the softness. Thank you!

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