a day in February

a day in February
isn’t usually this warm 
I am below a struggling sun

thinking of the instinct of birds 

and arranging plantings in my head 
I hear the oratory of my granddaughters 

as they stage one of their melodramas

in the leafless copse

at the back of the yard
I move some rolled up fencing

from this place to that

for no other reason than to temporarily 

placate an itch to be the in the garden

and to be

in some small way

of purpose 
I follow their song as they weave

among the trees

envious of their innocence 

as they spiral outward
ignoring for now

their lodestar 

as it beckons their attention

from the edge of forever 
(c) 2017 Fred Whitehead