# Early Morning
**by Francis Hicks**

Cardinals come first
this early morning with
me in the back
yard sitting
alone with so many
visitors.

The seed awaits,
inviting all to partake
of the bounty offered by
existence.

Existence
covers universe,
multiverse,
boundless,
endless
expanse
of all that
is.

Finches followed.
Tiny visitors,
peaceful by comparison,
sitting on the pegs,
snacking, it seems,
savoring each seed,
its hull and the rich
reward of the center.
The finches come in
pairs. The colorful
male and the quiet
female. Together.
I admire how they are
together.

The endlessness
of all that is
stretching, soaring,
existing above and below
each breath, each fluttery
beat of their avian hearts.

here on this bridge
after Lucille Clifton

on this bridge
between earth and immortality
wringing hands
awonder with the wonder
survival
survival is the word
for not placing the full stop
for looking at the semicolon
slipped between anxiety
and relief
you and me
we have survived.