March 2008  

Fool for Love    ©    by    Gail Peck
 

        Fool for Love,

you say, watching
the male cardinal put seed
into the female’s mouth,
the carousel of the feeder
turning in the wind.

Last week our son
steadied the hand of his bride
as they cut the cake—first day
of spring, new moon.

We stood that way at nineteen
and twenty, and what did we know
except that you were headed for Vietnam.
We would not sleep with reason.

Married in December
when the trees were bare.
Today, blossoms fluttering like moths,
I think of my bouquet
I didn’t preserve, roses bound together,
lying on the dresser when we woke.

Previously published in the North Carolina Poetry Society's
Pinesong: Awards 2007. Used with the poet's permission.
NOTICE: The copyright © for this poem belongs to the poet.