aphrodite tender square comes to me as cardinal in brilliant red, but i think, "that can’t be right, only male birds blow such embers." she doesn’t speak; she just is. i ask her, "why did you make me fall in love," and her stare undresses me with full fault. she cocks and twists her head, looks off in every which direction, observing, always taking light in. the grasses gather by her beaked bow, and i know i am meant to nest, to build from twigs and trash, pine needles and grapevine bark, a cup inside my soul to incubate. 211003 ... e_o_i This is one of the best poems I've read recently. I love how it's so immediate to the senses, but has more hidden away (embers being red, e.g. - but that's an obvious example). I could babble about image and motif, pretending I know what I'm saying, but the gist of it is that everything fits really well together. 211004 ... tender square wow, kirsten! thank you for this feedback. the poem was inspired by my first foray into active imagination a couple nights ago when i couldn’t sleep. coincidentally, i felt like the motif had been borrowed from j’s “american_robin.” ps. "songs of irrelevance" arrived in my mailbox yesterday, i'm psyched! 211005 what's it to you? who go blather from