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Poetry | January 2011

In the Flower Garden

By Janice D. Soderling

I am setting out young seedlings when
suddenly pandemonium erupts
in a nearby stand of weeping birches.

A jackdaw swoops toward me
with three fieldfares in hell-bent pursuit.
I feel the hot-edged swoosh of black wings.

The thief jettisons a blue, red-speckled egg.
Turn your back only for an instant.
The stolen egg at my feet oozes into the grass.

I lay down my trowel, remembering
an Easter Sunday morning,
the ambulance, the weak pulse.

The pursuers come back.
A female lands in our apple tree
and goes bird-berserk.

2 replies on “In the Flower Garden”

Judiith Lingle Ryansays:
January 3, 2011 at 8:51 am

Your language is so strong and beautiful, expressing the “pandemonium,” and the foreshadowing of “turn your back for only a minute” tucked into stanza 3 made me catch my breath. Thank you.

Reply
katiesays:
January 15, 2011 at 3:57 pm

there is a sense of urgency beneath the peace in this poem, I really enjoyed reading this. thanks for sharing!

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