Flying Gems: Ruby (Northern Cardinal)

 

You may entitle them northern kings,

Crowned with shiny crests.

Yet both chilly North and luscious South 

Harbor cardinals’ nests.

To decorate any place, any season - 

That’s their major task.

Though it’s always a carnival season for them, 

A chance to put on a black mask.

Look at their resplendence in the garden of noon:

Rare flowers from the ethereal florist,

They bedazzle in April, they blaze in June.

Is it humble Midwest or a tropical forest?

Late fall takes over, lethargic and pale,

With hazy fogs to conceal the existence.

Ruby sequins shine on her misty veil -

Red plumages gleam in the dusk like cinders.

Winter wraps the Earth in silver furs,

And she lies so still in her crystal coffin.

Northern knights come to say farewell to her -

The queen they served and admired so often.

Drops of ruby wine on the ermine snow,

Drops of precious blood – nature’s life has ended.

On the frosty gown scarlet crystals glow,

Making it so cardinally splendid.