Terri Kirby Erickson
Mockingbirds
It is a cold spring but still, the mockingbirds
are mating. They dance around each other,
flapping their flashy white-patched wings,
hopping up and down between blades of new
grass. He has sung to her his sweetest song,
and she has answered. Soon, there will be
eggs to hatch, and babies to feed. But this
moment is all about them—how they join
together, four wings fluttering and fluttering.
And just before parting, they dance a final
minuet before the female flies to the fence,
her mate to the feeder, their soft hew-hews
tender, their feathered bodies still quivering.
Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of five collections of poetry, including her latest book, Becoming the Blue Heron (Press 53). Her work has appeared in American Life in Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Poet’s Market, The Christian Century, The Sun Magazine, The Writer’s Almanac, Valparaiso Poetry Review and many others. Awards include the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and a Nautilus Silver Book Award. She lives in North Carolina.
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