Poetry

Feeding the Day

His fingers moved slowly from side to side,
shot down like roots in the sea of thick brown hair.
They swept across in full motion,
caressing each and every inch of the boy's skull.

Just below them on the grassy turf
birds picked and pecked through the dirt,
searching for the breakfast meal
of a six-legged creature.
Over at the water fountain
two small rainbows dove around in circles,
craving attention
for the briefest of moments.

He pulled out a handful of black sunflower seeds
from his right jeans pocket.
He opened the palm of his hand, delicately
like a wrapped Christmas present
and gestured the boy to dig in.
The boy scooped up the seeds,
placed them from one hand into the other
and let them rain down on the colorful birds.

There they sat, the father and the son,
watching the birds, listening to the water fountain
and laughing in each other's company.

Mattias Ostblom