After Before

Posted on by

mantis

After Before

A return to that
time when silence

reigned. The neighbor’s
guinea fowl have long

departed, but three cedars
drop needles in the driveway

even as reluctant growth
pushes out from the oaks’

limbs. Nothing circles
below the clouds, no

roosters crow. Feeders
hang still and empty.

The wrens remain
cloistered. You read

these events as separate
birdless chapters, all

hushed in the dappled
air, passages carried

yet confined by nearly
soundless threads

suspended from the
persimmon tree. You admit

a status as sentient
protein, one meal among

many, while you rest
and absorb

the soft ticking
of eighteen eager

juvenile mantises
on the porch screen.

feeder

“After Before” first appeared here in December 2015.

22 thoughts on “After Before”

  6. It’s a wonder the greedy corporates haven’t made a smorgasbord of all the birds and consumed them into extinction yet……. Really !! 18 Mantises on your porch screen, Ah a sight to be seen…..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

      • Oh how I miss WordPress, and the spirits and hearts within it, you. I was blessed to have come across you, and others like you – many kindreds. I’m fighting with all of my might to get through that in which is disabling me from creating, as well as not getting scrambled eggs for thoughts while struggling through the reader. My most recent post is far from the old me – I’m far from the old me, but it was a first step, and I am climbing. Until I reach “the place” I’m heading, it’s wonderful to know that we can still be kindred folk without my written words as they once were. Then again, kindreds don’t need words. 😉 Hmmm, then again, what would WP be without words?

        Thank you love.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.