Red

This morning I saw two cardinals, a male and a female, flicking and chittering in a hedge of bittersweet. How deft these small birds are, flitting about within that tangled thorny lattice, stopping suddenly to flirt, then streaking quickly to another perch. And did I mention the deep red feather of the male? So deep, so improbable, it seems the concentrated essence of all the red in creation, and for a moment you even think you might fall in. But all at once he flits away again, chasing his dusky companion, heedless of you and everything else. And so I walk home giving thanks to God, the maker of all red.