A Poem By Leigh Toborowsky, (c) 2024
My soul is nature, smelling the crisp, cool, Florida, winter air, waiting for migrants to
Dine on the banquet of pounds of sunflower seeds.
My heart delights when songbirds fly in to pick a specially chosen peanut and sit on a branch and hammer away as if it were the last, they’ll find.
My mind pings as the cacophony of melodious sounds fill the air like a symphony; when the new day dawns and hungry feathered friends seek to find a reliable buffet carefully chosen to warm their ruffled feathers after a cold long night.
I delight in the songs I’ve come to know, and sit, in anticipation of what colors and shapes I might recognize.
Will it be a spirit in red with a message from beyond, or an omen of a new beginning in blue.
It’s not for me to say who comes or goes, only nature has her way, to flow with the rhythm of what’s meant to be and for me to breathe it in.
Could it be a meow from the treetops above in black and grey, confusing me so
I’d like to know, or the warbling kind, the little guys.
That pump their tails and flitter bye, grabbing a seed and whisk away in glorious colors with, some of stripes, of black and white and yellow throats or lemon bodies, songs of chitter and chatter, or butter butts.
But look for bugs along branches in woods and come to feeders in winter days to grace our presence and fill our days, with colors of gold, and make their mark on our window feeders, and in our hearts.
Who knows who will preen their wings at the ancient old cement bath that was handed down from spirits past and watch them splash in fresh water I provide.
But I sit in wait for the hand of God, the painted boy that passes through, in the winter months.
In the shrubs below, he sits so still for the right moment to show and thrill me so, in all his glory he seeks the seed prepared for a king.
And I wait all year for the feast in my yard, on the cool winter morning of the migrant’s song.
Leigh Toborowsky is a Tampa Audubon member and has loved birds and animals her entire life. She has lived in Tampa for almost 40 years and came from New Jersey to attend the University of South Florida, where she graduated. She has always loved Florida and its flora and fauna.
She has been involved with animal rescues, and worked with many organizations when she owned a store, Rainforest Pets, in South Tampa. She enjoys the Audubon nature trips, lectures and meeting new people. She now travels to other countries to go bird watching.
Commentaires