I never thought to notice you.
I am sitting on the bench in the hot noonday sun when you join me.
You must feel safe
because you fly away and re-join me.
Now you hunker down with your wings flat on the gray board.
Your furry back arches behind your big black eyes.
I hear your fine wings: “click-click-click.”
There you go – away again.
But you return another time.
You sit closer to me,
making a friend.
Mary Elyn Bahlert, Baileys Harbor, 2024
At the Ridges’ Shore, Baileys Harbor, WI, 5/2025 Photo by Mary Elyn Bahlert
