A haze hovers around the border of the valley,
smoke trees blazing into bloom, a line of cherry
blushing in between. Pollen lazes on bridges, cars.
A brown thrasher lingers on the gate outside my house
Here I am Here I am haha hahaha
and a nuthatch widens his wings and sways
his ruffled body, warning an uncertain squirrel
from flung crumbs.
Access denied, the squirrel nips across the porch,
acorn husks scattering under bony feet.
Nuthatch and goldfinch reclaim the feeder,
beaks wide, new song rising.
KB Ballentine’s sixth collection, The Light Tears Loose, appeared this summer with Blue Light Press. Published in Crab Orchard Review and Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, among others, her work also appears in anthologies including In Plein Air (2017) and Carrying the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace (2017). Learn more at www.kbballentine.com.
Latest posts by KB Ballentine (see all)
- Edge of the Echo – by KB Ballentine - March 19, 2020
- Born into Legend – by KB Ballentine - March 19, 2020
- Work Week, Teacher – Poem by KB Ballentine - May 31, 2017