13 Ways Of Looking At A Cardinal

1
the touch, the spring, the motion,
the stem of a crabapple twisting,
the cardinal.

2
four winds are composing a giant
symphony.
The cardinal uses it to sing.

3
in a bottom cabinet of scrubbing
articles,
the drain leaks.
the cardinal invests in a nest.

4
there is a woman taking a bath,
a man at a self-serve gas station
and the cardinal.

5
a dark limbo of natural causes.
the cardinal sits on an unpainted
fence.

6
a screen door with several holes.
a child pokes his fist in to make
five.
the cardinal eats bread crumbs
like last year.

7
the cardinal perchs at the window.
a blind sphinx lifts a crippled
man.
he is shaving.

8
a thermometer rising. A clock
ticks the brief time.
the cardinal uses its beak for a
compass.

9
the cardinal dissects a map for
worms. a crowd at an auction
admires a certain stained chair.
its legs are a christmas story.

10
a shoebox. a box of toys.
the cardinal flutters to
recognize epiphany at sunrise.

11
beside a river
a man called Joseph is elegizing.
the cardinal drops pearls
in a picnic basket.

12
the masque of reasonable
procedure. a street in a
mausoleum.
the cardinal unites with a crow.

13
a bar of soap sets dumbfounded
in a bronze ashtray.
the leather of a muscular settee
in another room.
the cardinal is finishing its
breakfast.


Winner, 1st Place, The Weekly Abstract
Poetry Contest