Mornings on the Terrace

In Texas, spring and lent may arrive at the same time.

This poem was first published by Foreshadow.

Photo by Alexis Fauvet on Unsplash

Mornings on the Terrace

My wails warble through the birdsong;
wept words flutter between flights
of lighter feathers that soar
as chorus over the grass--
               longings shriven to larks,
               chants of wrongs to wrens,
               bleeds of cardinal confessions,
               dripping heavy over distant creeks
               where herons rise in winds of groans
and I listen for the mocking:
               a cry sounded as reflection blown
               laughed through the leaves--
instead I hear the coo of my kind confessor,
the dove’s return to these trees
               where, together, our calls lift their song . . .
               a harmony of howls hovering
               as a strain of hope.