Still Now

by Margie Doyle

Treading softly
Dawn lights the sky
The cat wants out

I stand
Still I stand
Tears at the ready

As is my pen
The artist’s easel
Face down in the rain

The cat cries
The sun-starved plants
Wilt in the rain

I still stand
Doing nothing
Empty

Tears at the ready
Counting the days
Become eternity

This is where I stand
With the wind blowing
And the cat crying

Regrets, remorse
Sting like vinegar
Guilt like bile

Redemption like silver
Blinded by the sun
I see that I am still

Born again as a mossy spore
Spreading to cover the winter hardness
Dark and soft yes
Like a hummed lullaby

The cat scratches its chin
On the sodden planter
Still green parsley springs up

Fly away birds

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