A Phoebe in Maine

In the shining green of damp leaves

In the liquid gray of summer rain

The small, gray bird landed

clinging

To the bark of a tree

It flew to a wire

--and tried to shade itself

It flew to the woodpile

--and pumped its tail,

And then while I watched,

With wide eyes and pumping heart,

--it flew away.

Kathie Adams Brown (July 11, 2003) Livermore Falls, Maine