For the next couple of weeks I am on vacation.  Then I will be at camp for a week, then I have a few days respite before my new job officially begins in August.

Which is to say, there may not be a lot of activity here this month.

Or at least not the kind of activity I usually am engaged in on this blog.

I’ve decided, while I’m on vacation, to try to my hand at some creative writing, something I have been meaning to do for a while.  Now that the demands of an academic writing schedule are no longer on my plate, I might actually have the time to do some…

So here’s a first foray into being creative: a little poem I have tentatively titled “The Coalition of Songbirds.”  Hope you enjoy it!

Perched on the ledge opposite me

A robin stares inquisitively at what was a cardinal’s nest

While the cawing of crows echoes under a gray sky,

Recalling the mood of those birds that, just the night before,

Had formed a coalition of free spirits,

Together driving away that villain that had dared to alight upon another’s home.

“An attack on one is an attack on all.”

But now, as the shadow of the clouds lingers while the sun slowly rises,

That all seems forgotten,

And even I sit, enjoying a cool breeze while a paper napkin,

Left over from the previous nights’ meal, dances across the table,

Leaving just the robin, watching the silent nest while his allies sing their songs,

Perhaps the only one who still recalls their fight the previous dusk.