Photo by Zach Lezniewicz on Unsplash

There is an old tree root over there,
lying on its side.
Roots sticking up, a thick tangle,
dark like shadow or silhouette,
backlit against the brightness
of this after-the-rain-morning sun.
I notice a blue jay land among
the tangle, fluttering here and there.
His color flashes and twinkles
as light catches his feathers.
Soon comes a second
jay, and they fly away to
the west fence together.

I sit entranced with the picture
I had seen, storing it in memory.
There comes another jay, and yet
another, from the pine tree by
the neighbor’s shed on the
eastern side.
They hop and jump among the roots,
their outrageous blue
glistening.
Then comes again form the west fence,
perhaps the first pair with a third training, and more.
I soon was watching a wholly
decorated July tree.

July 2009