The Gardener in Red

Where do you see five birds perched on a single branch,
Uniformed dollops of gray against the rugged back of the old tree at the back of the house,
Or another singleton, a thumb fist sized bird, perching atop the tallest leaf of the tallest tree,
As the leaf sways the bird and its lightness against a cloudy sky where droplets drizzle in misty grandeur,
Where a caterpillar and lady birds carved in wood and painted in colors raw and rustic make a home
For the birds and their pages of songs, the morning serenades, afternoon siesta notes and lullaby's for nights long,
For love and a home full of love's footprints
Ammi's garden of happiness.

Doppelganger

Shrouds of ghouls
In a vale of shadows
To know is to live
In the beauty of time
A day when the hour hand turns golden
The curtain rises
With red hangings,
Chandeliers, grandeur
 and robes the same
Of velvet black on it gardens

sewed,
The past a memory of some other lived
You and I