I am delighted to welcome IS&T artist/poet C Albert in residence to begin our Spring and Easter feature….

In Waiting

*********

They Met on a Telephone Line

He was common brown.
There was no trembling of heart
or wing. She simply accepted

then chose a round kitchen vent
in the second floor corner behind
a redwood’s shade.

He brought dried blade of grass,
thin twig, leaf stem,
one after another.
Metal rattled
the frantic weaver’s pace.

Together they attacked
a blue bird and stole
mouthfuls of feathers.

She finished just before
the eggs dropped
between a royal bed
and her own delicate blanket.

Flies were divided
among their open mouths.
When the nest became too small,
she waited on a branch
with bits of grasshopper.

They flew to her,
blended into bark.
She did not chirp, Stay.
Not even a Farewell!

Three figures dipped and soared,
erased by sky.

In the time since this post, C Albert has made a book out of They Met on a Telephone Line and the new images above are from that book.

*C Albert can be contacted through inksweatandtears@aol.com.