I woke,
opened
my vertical
blinds
and looked out
and there was my dove.
it didn’t have its partner.
they haven’t been together
for some time now.
I believe
they do pair for life
once they have decided.
I wondered what had happened.
the other day I noticed
there was a dove who seemed
like it wanted to pair up with it.
it kept chasing it around
the yard then onto the block wall
and into the tree
and elsewhere.
it wouldn’t leave my dove alone.
so,
by all that, I assumed that it must have been a male
looking to partner up with a female
to raise some chicks…
but,
my dove didn’t seem to want anything to do with it.
my dove
shows up everyday
and ‘coos’
and walks around,
goes up on the block wall,
up on top of the patio,
sits there
and looks around.
during the day it goes
up on the ridge of my house
and looks down.
it also flies up
to the neighbor’s
roof and sits.
it flies away
but always comes
back
to visit.
the mockingbird in the tree
seems to
object tweeting his
various territorial tunes.
you might think this odd,
but I know how to
fold my hands
and make cooing sounds
like the Indians do.
and, I make it a point
to do this
a few times.
the dove
seems to
turn his head
at me in acknowledgement.
(I wonder if he thinks I’m a nut? yes, I admit
I am a bit off center, possibly more; at least enough so
to write poems on a semi regular basis…)
I learned on my own
how to make
the dove sound
with my hands
when I was
a child.
I do this
whenever the dove
lands.
it walks around
on the concrete decking
and stands there.
this dove has come around
for years.
it is a part of my life
same as my humming birds, lizards
on the wall and occasional visit
in my bird bath by the blue jay, other birds and
the bird of prey hawk.
I feel sad for the dove
because I have the feeling
something happened to
its partner.
I was so used to seeing them both together.
it is an overcast day.
much cooler than yesterday.
I hear gardeners in the distance
with their lawnmowers
and leave blowers.
I hear the cars on the freeway
two miles from where I live.
(I feel blessed I am out of
that rat race. God, I hated
bumper to bumper traffic
and pissed off people
tailgating me and cutting me off. don’t
miss that one bit. enduring all
that through the years nearly
cost me my soul)
my cat looks out
with me
at the dove
and makes its concerned cat sounds.
and I look out
and drink my green tea
and feel my own love
and an acute sense of loss
for this beautiful but seemingly lonely dove
who visits me
often.
it seems as though
there is this
emptiness
and void
surrounding
where it
stands
because it now
must
live on
without
its
partner.
