With Courage to Stay

Poemata LXXIX

Singing at the sill / your red badge marks you, soldier / fly away, Robin. (photo by Rob Mitchell)

Robin, red of breast whose nest is near my door--
Safety knows he not; trusting me means quite a lot;
Leaving eggs behind when going to the store
Step outside to walk, startling him with idle talk;
Times there were when he would build upon the floor!
Eggs as blue as sky; in his half-made nest often lie;

Locks are not a thing which Robin seems to know--
Yet his kind are here; will they not soon disappear?
Friends of his have homes unseen from down below
So secure from theft, eggs must be kept and not left;
Bold he is perhaps, a dare to those who show
Wanting him for food, has he a fight in his blood?

First to come in Spring, so long as Springs may be--
Dance upon the grass, gather in roost for your Mass;
Is his trust repaid for long posterity?
Half may pass the year, he is not valued so dear--
None may pass the pen which counts the price of he
Living light he flies, singing he lives and he dies.