A cardinal lingered near my window,
Peering ‘round the tree tops as he
Pirouetted on pencil-thin branches.
Ruby red against a crystal blue morning sky;
Singing, flitting, bouncing from branch to branch
Higher, higher, higher still.
Sometimes by miniscule degrees,
Sometimes by a yard or two,
Climbing his ladder to the top
Where he would leap off and
Wing his way higher still into clearer air.