Rara avis

the child saw him first

ran clamoring to the house

too wild for any bird we know

no chickadee

no blue jay

no sea gull like those that call

above our roof

no heron proud and silent

but monarch of his tree

surveying our backyard

our clothes hung out to dry

the brilliant red head

bold beak

loud hammering

the bird book names him

but what does the name know

of his flamboyance in that

dark plain pine tree

of his explosion

in our predictable morning

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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