Today's poem is by John Hoppenthaler

The Nature of Nature
       

A bluebird shows itself, disappears
beyond tall pines, then reappears

in the bright golden company of Lesser
Goldfinch, big colors against summer

greenery. Be bold but small, they insist,
and quick to the wing because difference

is dangerous in America, no matter
how well you sing. Now one, now two,

now three turkey vultures circle the air
above, and that's not a welcome omen.

The bumblebee buzzing my colorful
beer can—a Belgian Tripel—is only confused

for a moment, climbs, then jets for the bed
of blazing star, their spikes of tiny

pink flowers. Elephant ears, lining
the brick wall behind the lily pond, are

eavesdropping and will never forget
my candor here without you. Even they feel

injured, and the bullfrog bellows, registers
his own complaints: Why me? Why me?

Three years ago today, I sat here, same
spot, Trump two years in, and heard

stray fireworks that led me to think
of gunshots, that brought me to remember

my father, that brings me to consider Danny,
riddled with his own collateral damage,

and you, Christy, and the frazzled state
of our union. I ask Colocasia; they always

remember. His illness threatens
with the bulk of a pachyderm. Weymouth

is beautifully curated and reminds me
of privilege. A black-chinned hummingbird

darts past, jabs awhile at purple blooms
in a pot. He jerks his head, swivels, flits

closer, stops, flits once more, stops hard
and hovers—twelve inches from my face—

to address me with kindness. Then he repairs
to his supper while tandemed cardinals—

one the muddy color of dried blood, the other
vivid blood-red—forage, young lovers there

among the manicured shrubbery. Be bold
but small, quick to the wing. Bang!

Cherry bomb in the distance. I've killed
so many birds, thoughtless kid with a pellet rifle,

I don't know why they show me such grace.
They forget, I think, or forgive, while

I've neither forgiven nor forgotten,
keep mercy dead in my crosshairs. Bang!

A flurry shudders the white hydrangeas.

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Copyright © 2023 John Hoppenthaler All rights reserved
from The Greensboro Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission