now spring

a solitary mockingbird
sits outside my window,
braced against
a gray, southern wind
and a coming storm,
the skies restless,
but quiet

a cardinal pair
share safflower at the feeder,
he's more skittish,
she's more relaxed

the field guides,
almost poetically,
tell me the red male
and cool, brown female
mate for life--

they only live a year or so,

one hard winter,
maybe two,
is all they endure

I wonder how long
it seems for them