Cardinals streak the starkest contrast
to the white field behind the house.
And the joy of those red birds
is for whom they return to promise –
they wait where, for you, a place is kept.
Lovely, they will sit all day
in leafless limbs of winter trees –
brilliant harbingers.
If you listen, they will give you
their message with outstretched wings.
About the Poet
Elisa Affanato is an Adjunct Professor of English Composition and Early American Literature. She has also edited Ph.D. candidates’ doctoral dissertations. She lives in Western North Carolina where she writes poetry and enjoys nature.
For the first time in nearly five years, Vita Brevis is closed for submission. Read the full story here.
Vita Brevis Press. 
An interesting poem !!!
Simply beautiful words. I wait to hear the message!
Cardinals are such colorful birds! In this poem, their color takes flight.
Thank you for reading my poem