My Poetry: distraction

Readers,

I am always writing poetry, on my phone, on scraps of paper, in my head...it is a decades-long habit. I’ve decided to share with you the occasional poem - to share my tears, laughter, and rage with you during these unsettled times. See below.

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distraction

two little creatures
chickadee size
flitting maniacally
at my window
flinging their grey feathered bodies
hitting and pecking the glass.

knocking like they want to enter
land in my tangled hair
perch on my pillow
nest on my wrinkled floral quilt.

flaming orange crowns
raccoon eyes
black toothpick beaks
frenetically bopping from branch to branch.

who are you?

frantically
I search:
Merlin Bird ID
Audubon guide
Common Birds of the Pacific Northwest.

eyes dart from page to page
land on golden-crowned kinglet
visitors from Canada
a glorious gift from the avian goddess.

shall I open the window?

let them in

or
shall I

hop out?

Alice Rothchild