Recall that god-awful day
you went walking to escape
scuffed and sulked
your way across the soggy ground
dragging blackened shoe stings
until you found that Cardinal feather
gleaming in the grey.
Its radiance mocked you
rough and anything but
so you pulled it apart
took laborious joy in your work
dissecting each delicate striation
that made a lovely whole
but did nothing alone.
Just filmy-frayed red threads
hanging limp from the tiny spine
that lay broken in the palm of your hand.
