Morning sun is lower now as goldfinches
in their lemon cloaks gather fistfuls
of nyger and ground millet,
bump gently against hummers.
Speeding to sugar,
the red-throat steps back
to give remaining girl swallowtails
sips for the coming change
The feeders full of last-minute tourists
like those at the cruise ship docks
seeking warmth before our sole orb steers south.
Feeders for students too, the young cardinal
with a curious look, head cocked
as at her first bus stop
her new backpack
fresh pencil smells, morning porridge
The diva of them all alights, still not
breathtakingly bright like her boyfriend.
Clad in bespoke stripes, she inhales a line of seeds
before awed-open beaks of smaller birds.
Grosbeak on the trip to Florida goes at her own speed,
graces us with her late summer flair.
The question is, when the journey ends, when school is out,
who returns, who doesn’t, and why.
—
Marjorie Gowdy writes and paints on a Blue Ridge mountain farm in Callaway, Virginia. Author of three poetry chapbooks featuring her own illustrations, Marjie is inspired by our lush, rolling landscapes. This is a land which opens as a book with many pages, full of tales both exquisite and bittersweet. Her latest chapbook, Pillow Fight, was published in July 2024 by Prolific Press.
