Hunger
flurry of
feathers
alfresco dining
frenzy
feeder tilts
sideways
Turtles
periscoping
heads
silhouettes in
the surfline
back undercover
Hypnotic
staccato
sunbeams
Tunnel of Trees filtered light
overarching
shade
Flash
scarlet
happenings
a red-crested
cardinal
flights of
fancy soar
Battle
scattered meal
remnants
no begrudging hungry
birds
aggression
ensues
Morning
Chorus
birds-of-paradise
wake us - fauna
not flora
roustabout
roosters
Succor
useless leg,
red crest
damaged bird
seeking handouts
wife feeds the
broken
Rick Hartwell
Rick Hartwell is a retired middle school teacher (remember the hormonally-challenged?) living in Southern California with his wife of forty-seven years, Sally (upon whom he is emotionally, physically, and spiritually dependent), two grown children, a daughter-in-law, two granddaughters, and sixteen cats! Don’t ask. Like the Transcendentalists and William Blake, he believes that the instant contains eternity. He has been published in: Scarlet Leaf Review (nominated as Best of the Net, 2016), Birmingham Arts Magazine, The Cortland Review, Mused: Bella Online Literary Journal, Phenomenal Literature, Dual Coast Magazine, Kind of a Hurricane, Everyday Fiction, Everyday Poets, Poppy Road Review (selected as Best of the Net, 2011), Torrid Literature Journal (inducted into the Hall of Fame, 2013), Synchronized Chaos (nominated as Best of the Net, 2013), Leaves of Ink, and others, both print and online, as well as several anthologies. He can be reached at rdhartwell@gmail.com.