Redbird on a Limb
Behind the large grey-barked oak
A grey sky, seen through the mostly leaf-free tree
Save for a few brown, early winter hanger-on leaves.
Perched on the oak’s naked winter limb,
A redbird brightly emanates,
No camouflage here,
Just an announcement in a fit of color.
The gray sky has filtered through my winter day,
Just gray, just cold, and wind blowing
Through skeletal trees and the evergreen pines
Swaying distance.
Cold has established its assault,
Providing no comfort to the sings of
Spring and summer hanging on.
Waiting, giving in to the wintry season,
Giving in to not bursting forth with spring,
The redbird waits in its own time,
Announcing that a spring will follow
With the flash of his feathers,
Boldness and persistence:
Catch up with me, nature,
When you can.
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Robert Baylot has published poetry in Deep South Magazine, The Broad River Review, Poetry Super Highway, Delta Poetry Review, and others. He writes from western Tennessee.
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Stone Poetry Quarterly 