Two doves
on the tree
this morning.
A white birch
with peeling bark
and yellowed
trembling leaves
still clinging
to a former life.
 
Their backs to me
they canoodle
once or twice
heads entwined
in curved embrace.
Grey feathers
softly pillow him to her
a side by side refrain
an old and faithful touch.
 
A flash of fan-tails
tipped in white
as nature calls them
back to flight.

© Alison Hackett  First draft 16 November 2015