Spray of Cardinals

This painting and its corresponding poem were in our recent show in Tulsa, OK.  To bid or visit my ebay gallery, Click Here

SPRAY OF CARDINALS

Looking out my window to the backyard,

cup of coffee in hand,

winter apple tree, for an instant, seems ripe with fruit. 

It is a desire for the return of spring that brings on this illusion. 

Closer examination reveals

cardinals scattered among the branches.   

Their crimson silhouettes,

stand, most brilliant against the bleak, washed sky.

For months, I have looked out on this scene--

Grey sky,

grey fence,

grey branches. 

Rooftops of neighboring houses are degrees of grey. 

My eyes now, weary of grey, are delighted by this late winter offering. 

I become aware that I am cupping my coffee in both hands,

as though receiving Eucharist.

Then, in a flash of red, the tree ignites in winged flight.

Startled, I blink, and everything is the same again, only different. 

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