Just the sounds of my shoes on the dirt road,
The jingle of the dog's tags,
And traffic, out of sight.
No birds
No squirrels
No trains!
The dog walks behind me, watching, nervous.
The berries are ripe.
Bear?
Pictures of flowers, rocks and trees.
We head back,
The dog takes lead
And there is a bird.
A single bird
Not singing
But chirping, low, slow
He surveys the area
Follows us down the road
Defending his kingdom?
At the end he stops,
On the top of a tree,
as we head down the path toward home.
