Throwback Poem-Off: Spring Cardinal [original poem]

Haha! I love the meandering path this exchange has traveled through. We've seen so much so far! Love, angst, doubt, existential philosophy, passion, lust, and hope....

Welcome to the poem-off.

Read my partner-in-poems, @mitchelljaworski's last entry here: Pride and Purpose

And my response below...

source

Spring Cardinal

On this cold and cloudy morn
I walk with weighted steps
Over roads gone stale with use
My mind is forced to ask:

What choices lie before me
Hidden there up ahead
And will I ever reach them
When filled with so much dread?

My road though, now, is steady
My steps a lullaby
No need to challenge comfort
With questions such as "Why?"

Drifting on my barren way
With thoughts like melting snow
I hear a voice brightly call
And hope begins to grow.

A lone, loud cardinal whistles
From a branch, singing strong
With only crows to answer
It seems unfair or wrong.

Does my friend there see me now
And feel us close in soul
Does he, too, fear to wonder
On dreams of other roads?

I can see him at his perch
High in a tall, dark tree
Against the muted whiteness
Quite unaware of me.

Of course, I am not his friend
His road is so unknown
Changing as the fickle wind,
The path that he has flown.

He has no fear of sadness
No scope to understand
The melancholy feeling
That reigns here in my land

His sweet voice starts to burn
The poison fog, despair
His passion sparks a fire
That begins to clear the air.

This cardinal gives me courage
To think of unknown dreams
The blindfold that I've worn
Now ripping at the seams.

What's a poem-off, you ask? Just a little thang that started a little bit ago. I read a poem that @mitchelljaworski posted, from his old-school writing days. It reminded me of all of my old-school poems, so I challenged him to see if we could go turn-for-turn and repost long lost words from the vaults of time. No rules apply, and new stuff might just make the mix. Check it out, y'all. Follow the links down the rabbit hole...

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Thanks for visiting

Here are some of my other poems:
Kiss * Clouds of September * Dammed Love * Sunset Blessings * Fadings of Fall * The Friday Blues * Passion Flower * Defining Love * The Way * Sing On * Heartsong * Desire * Trust Again * Solstice Rain * Dreamtime * Morning Mist * Kintsukuroi * Dead Dog’s Lie * Synchronicity * From Darkness * Love’s Last Throes * For Love of the Pub

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