She Was So Still by Jeffrey Grills ………… Arkansas and Maine
I wondered if she was even alive,
The little bird perched inches from my face.
I almost missed her as I walked past the towering, tangled rose bush
That separates our yard from the farm next door.
But my eyes caught her, nestled in the briars,
A fresh young robin, short and plump.
Speckles on her little face,
And her breast still a light shade of rust.
She was so close that I could see
Downy feathers standing up on her head
Blown by the breeze.
Her immense black eye stared at me;
Its occasional blinking the only movement I could see.
She was not afraid of anything.
I wondered, then, to what prayer
She was the answer,
Because her stillness and poise
Seemed to respond to a need in my soul.
How long did we commune together?
What did she receive by remaining?
Finally, though, she noticed something
Over my shoulder and took off
Leaving only her stillness behind.
_________________________
Jeffrey Grills is a retired pediatrician and an active writer and blogger. At his website soulrounds.com he offers spiritual encouragement. A member of Midcoast Maine Poetry, he is working on a spiritual memoir and a collection of poems. He divides his year between Midcoast Maine and Northwest Arkansas. A long-time Centering Prayer practitioner, he attends Action and Contemplation Chapel.