This morning, two male cardinals
squabble and wrestle in a gap of holly.
I have no idea about the content
of their conflict, but my, it’s early.
They finish and are away
as swiftly as they appeared.
Later, her orange beak appears,
then, the grey, quivering body,
tucked in an adjacent alcove.
She’s been studying me for minutes,
if not for the whole time.