Cat and Crow Have a Quarrel

 Cat and Crow Have a Quarrel

Upstairs, my cat sits in this open window and watches, sniffing smells carried on the winds of sunset.  Without warning, black feathers flash filling the frame, as old crow lands on the nearest branch of the maple that shelters our home.  What a rumpus.  Their arguments grate, their words need oiling; each one huffed up and cursing the other.  Fearing the screen may not hold, I clap my hands to distract them.  They yield, and old crow flies off into the twilight.  The cat sulks and stares, searching for feathers.  All I can hear now is my heart drumming the beats of this battle.  Evening closes its shadows over their squabble and the air grows still, as if nothing had happened.  Then the cat’s head jerks to the left; something is stirring the darkness.

Words and photo are ©copyright 2011-2013 Carol Steel.

The Crab-apple Tree in Your Yard

The Crab-apple Tree in Your Yard

Each spring in your yard, a crab-apple tree, two stories tall

unfolds rosy ruffles, spills petals in showers of silk,

soft as your new baby’s skin.  The tree sprinkles a blessing

for those who can see.

 

Yet one morning at five, your neighbour appears

outside in her housecoat, its belt cinched tight,

outside in her yard with not a leaf out of place;

her hands on her hips, she stands under a fresh fall of petals,

a gift from the breeze.

Ah! Glory sifting pink through morning’s slant light.

But her face is pulled into a purse of frowns,

as she glares up at your flowering crab.

 

She sweeps; head down, studying the slate slabs.  She’s battling invasion.

Waging a war, she conquers each petal, every last one.

Heaving a sigh, with her brown slippers and broom,

she retreats to her house, so tidy and beige.  And later,

I hear her leaf-blower blowing, dusting the lawn

again and again.

 

Words and photo are copyright Carol Steel.