The robin’s song is different now

It’s not the same one he sang this morning

The notes are the same, it’s the tempo that’s changed 

This is a slower, more deliberate song

Sung with care and purpose

Last year's collards, buried alive, have persisted and grown tall

Too tough even for that winter to have killed

New seeds are ready to drop 

The sky through the trees takes on a color I know but have never seen

Is this what my grandparents saw when they stared into the distance at the end of the day?

Memories and ideas are fireflies briefly lighting a dark tangle 

The way from here lit just as brightly 

A slow, deliberate song persisting as I turn in for the night