Ruffled – Poem by Joan Leotta

Poetry by Joan Leotta

Ambling about in mid-morn’s quiet
on a small gravel drive carved out
between two rolls of loblolly pine,
my meandering reverie is broken by
a flash of feather—
white, black, capped with crimson.
He darts by closely—my cheek’s
warmed by his wing in passing.
Ruffled now, roused from reverie,
my eye follows his flight to a
refuge high in clustered pine needles.
Only his red feathers show now.
Tat, tat, tat—he’s at work
finding lunch in the bark,
I return to my well-worn path,
refreshed, invigorated by the flash of
beauty that crossed my path this morning,
grateful for the break in routine,
for a moment of being ruffled, a
close connection with an other.

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About the Poet

Joan Leotta is a writer and story performer. Her poems are in or are forthcoming inWhen Women Write, Hobart , Gnarled Oak, Pine Song. The Ekphrastic Review , Visual verse and Verse Virtual among others. When she is not at typewriter or on stage, you can find her walking the beach or planning her next trip.