Hearing a random series of clicks
in my kitchen, I investigate to find
an energetic brown bird with red
markings on its wings and tail,
a female cardinal, sidelling along
the outside windowsill, every
now-and-then attempting to fly into
a closed window, beak banging.
Not put off, she tenaciously repets
this effort over and over, every day,
day after day, summer and winterlong.
Once, her scarlet mate briefly
joined her on the ledge, but flew
away as soon as he saw her fail
to fly even once through the glass.
I speculate that she perhaps sees
::(but does not recognize) her own
reflection, perceiving it as an
intruder into her territory;. Or,
maybe she sees a space she
wants to explore, unable to
understand the glass barrier.
Famously aggresive, heretofore
watever she could see was open
to her world. Now, her beak
merely bangs ineptly against
a wall she can see beyond, but
cannot penetrte. This anomaly is
beyond the cardinal's understanding.
Repeated attempts to fly through
the window are doomed. But,
she cannot resist trying.
first published in Illinois State Poetry Society
also published in Highland Park Poetry Muse's Gallery Online
also published in Fine Lines website
©2016 Bonnie Manion