—Lake Charles, Louisiana, September, 2004

Like a dancer or a Tai Chi master,
he roams freely in driveways, in gardens,
alert to stalking by neighborhood cats.

Often he will greet you at eye level,
signaling the Spirit’s desire, inviting
you to dine on life’s feast—his presence

unsettling doubt and belief.
With stilted step to street’s center
he pauses, wings rippling across

lawn edges. Then he lifts off,
pinions the color of light, of grace.

Stella Ann Nesanovich
from the book Points of Gold: Poems for Leo Luke Marcello
Xavier Review Press, 2005

used with permission of the poet