Small Hearts

By Shari Wilder

Originally published in The Talon, Volume X, 2025

I am often overcome by the impression 

                 of small hearts appearing as stars

                      in a galaxy of luminescent feathers.

 On pebbles you stand in still waters, 

             where the doves coo their song of peace         

                              and whirls of the chickadees         

                        trill above the burrows—

in the garden where the cardinals play.