Nick Conrad: “Cardinal”
CARDINAL
There is nothing graceful about
its haste. Blood hued, doomed to be hawk prey,
owl fodder, no wonder it hesitates,
weighing whether the setting sun’s
aureate luster might mask its flight
across a verdant green expanse
soon enough scripted winter white,
with one lone red exclamation mark.
Nick Conrad’s poems appear in national and international journals, including The American Journal of Poetry, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, Cider Press Review, Concho River Review, The Literary Bohemian (CZ), The MacGuffin, Magma (UK), Noctua Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Orbis (UK), Stand (UK), and Valparaiso Poetry Review. His first book, Lake Erie Blues, appeared as part of Urban Farmhouse Press’ Crossroads Poetry Series.