New Widow, Observing Finches by Martha Christina

Sheltered
by arborvitae,
the female
fledgling tries
a short flight.
She makes
some progress,
then stops.

Another
(her mother?)
flies to her
from the feeder,
a sunflower seed
in her beak. She
feeds this reward
to the resting one.

I watch them repeat
these actions three
times: progress,
rest, and reward;
a lesson in how
to move forward.



Martha Christina is a frequent contributor to Brevities. Longer work appears in Innisfree Poetry Journal, Naugatuck River Review, earlier postings of Red Eft Review, and most recently in Star 82 Review, and Crab Orchard Review. She has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press).