|
Warped white frame
sagged on rusty hinges;
faded doors drooped
like a sad face pulls
cheeks from eyes;
two years overdue
for replacement.
This garage was let
year one;
a family of wrens
built a tidy nest
deep in eaves above
the splay.
In and out they flew,
bearing stolen twigs
to weave with thin oak leaves,
perching cautious, slender
feet atop the jamb,
in turn they paused,
a ruse, I thought,
to keep their den a secret
from cunning red-winged poachers.
Incessant baby bird bleats
were the only clue; they bred
and fledged without
my catching any glimpse
of newborn feather.
Next spring: three pairs arrived.
Like circus entertainment,
four tiny brown clown cousins fell
from rafters; hopped on ladder rungs.
and made me laugh out loud
as ringmaster parents’ wings
clapped about my head.
I replaced the doors last fall:
quite nice, they seem—
the hinges gleam; the fit is tight—
with felt-lined weather stripping.
Today, quite unmistakably,
Four quick tu-wee’s announced
the Carolina Wrens’ return. Excitedly,
I watched from kitchen window,
as a lone bird paced the fence,
her slightly agitated head tilted
a blank, questioning eye—aimed
at my garage—
looking for her home.
In 2004, when she decided to retire from 30-plus years in Navy Civil Service, Carol Saul Bayma felt "God provided challenging work with interesting people," and says, "The Navy was good to me," but she sensed a call to new opportunities. "I’m just an ordinary retiree with the usual house and yard work, but now there is time and energy for more uplifting pursuits." Reading, writing, cooking, eating out with friends, visiting with church members who are elderly or hospitalized, and traveling with her life partner, Alice Taylor, are favorite activities.
In addition to her extensive body of inspirational writing, Carol Saul Bayma’s poetry has been published in a number of small press journals around the country, including The Aurorean, WestWard Quarterly, and The Storyteller. Profits from a collection of 19 of her poems based on observations of the trials and tribulations of church night shelter programs, Jesus Came to Church Last Night, raised several hundred dollars for the Virginia Beach Winter Shelter Program and the Norfolk Emergency Shelter Team during the recent winter shelter season.
Carol is a mom and grandmom, living in Norfolk.
To submit poetry to Port Folio Weekly, visit www.the-muse.org/portfolio.html |
Content and Comment Guidelines
