the approach of notice

there is some kind of content
that comes from a morning
spent sitting on a deck with the dog
laying at one’s feet
tongue lolling as we overlook
the quickly growing plants
supervising the sunshine

we have noted the cardinal pair
as they land in the lilac
it’s sprinkled with an arc
spraying from the rhythmic contraption
at the end of the hose
they puff up their red feathers
rub through the dripping leaves
i hope they don’t mind my staring

my deck companion and i
have taken the approach of notice
and i think of the excitement
of my young nephew when he stops what he is doing
to listen, to hear
and then he shouts, noise!

i look to the neighbor’s roof and pigeons
and think, coo!
to the little sparrows making small depressions
in the early summer dust
and think, tweet!
i hear the city children playing from down the alley
and think, joy!

my companion’s patience outlasts my own
i am enticed by the approach of do
our footsteps echo on the planks
as we step back into the house