1 minute read
What I Like About Cardinals
LynetteLamp
They know their own, but only flock in winter. A conclave of bishops chirp in backyard bushes.
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Masked and mohawked, they startle the snow in their crimson cloaks, and brighten my evergreens like bows on a wreath.
They stick around and hunker down surviving frigid northern plains, or enough of them do to make more cardinals. Either it works out, or it doesn’t, but they have no plans to fly south to Florida.
No extra canned goods in the pantry. No gold coins in the gun safe. No lawyers on retainer.
Refusing to fly anywhere but home, their feet cling to icy branches. Ruby feathers ruffle in the wind.
Lynette Lamp is a practicing family physician and recent graduate of the Spalding University MFA program. She has had previous poems published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), The Pharos, and Annals of Internal Medicine. Lynette lives in Winona, Minnesota.
