Evensong
At opposite ends of the feeder,
dangling from the buckeye
by a sliver of jute,
a cardinal and indigo bunting
feed, seemingly oblivious
to the blue and scarlet other,
their self-absorption
an ongoing evolutionary tick
completed this very instant.
Birdseed falls into the tall grass
under the tree.
The cardinal flies off,
upsetting the feeder’s ballast.
It sways, wildly
at first, then less
and then less until less,
like a hypnotist’s gold watch,
while the bunting,
fading by degrees
into the falling blue spell
of evening remains
perfectly still.
— Joseph Bathanti
Joseph Bathanti served as North Carolina’s poet laureate 2012-2014. His most recent book is Light at the Seam.
