A Goldfinch And Its Mate Poem by Frank Avon

I saw my first goldfinch
of the season today
gleaming amidst the sunflowers
that hide my porch,
its mate's camouflage
fading into the foliage

and I thank Ceres and Bacchus
or 'whatever gods may be'
that life abounds
no matter how near
(the roses are fading
with no fresh buds,

not even the climbers,
New Dawn and Joseph's Coat
and the Fourth of July,
and the sunflowers so heavy
their stems are breaking)
the threat of death.