Seeds And Nuts. Poem by Connetta Jean

At the top of a ridge
near the edge
where steep ravines
first begin
their journey down
to ponds and streams....
Often I saw
a old Woman walking.
talking to herself...
One Late Summer Tuesday
she stood benieth the trees,
(only yards away from me)
She did not see me
as i sat within
summer leaves
and afternoon shadows..
she was telling the birds
to come find her seeds
before the squirrels
carry them home..
her pockets was full..
several times she paused
along the winding road..
Each time talking aloud..
laying seeds
upon the ground..
i watched untill
her shadow disapppeard
and one by one
the birds came..
red birds ate from a pile
of homegrown sunflowers..
tiny yellow birds seemed
to swarm upon
fresh picked thistles.
squirrels ran to open
the nuts placed far away
from piles of seeds.
throught the summer
and into autumn...
i often saw her
and smiled to myself....
one day she no longer
came to walk
and talk on the road...
they say her daughter
sent her away
(a rest home up north)
I was told
her daughter found her
walking in the road
talking to herself
with pockets
of sunflower seeds
thistles and nuts..