April 2020
Robert K. Johnson
choirofday@cs.com
Bio Note: I wrote my first poem (and first short story) while in grade school many moons ago. I loved what I did and never stopped doing it. So, in addition to being a college English teacher for many years, I have had poems published individually in a wide variety of magazines and in a goodly number of collections.

Our Backyard Patio's Garden,

Japanese small-scaled
and delicate, includes
a bowl we fill with seeds
for finches, wrens and others

till a huge brown bird
swoops down—its flapping wings
smashing a dozen flowers—
and flies off with a chipmunk

clutched in its claws
while our garden's setting tries
to return to what it was
but will never be again.
©2020 Robert K. Johnson
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