Dogwood and Spring

Red Bird, White Petals

A cardinal perches
on the dogwood;
red bird, white petals.
Petals etched with the
mark of blood.

The limbs sway as
the cardinal hops from
one branch to another.
Petals silently
slide to the ground.

White snow
fallen on brown
leaves left from
last autumn.

The cross falls
its white shadow casting
purity across the darkness
in my life, fallen
through the winter.

The touch of nail scars,
the imprint of love on the
four corners of my life.
I sing with the cardinal,
red and white in the tree.

c. Darlene Moore Berg

previously in A New Song