Veranda View

My grandfather liked to sit
on the back veranda
and watch the birds
as they pecked
at scraps
in the ragged grass
near a lazy tree
not far
from a paling fence
I sometimes climbed.

He listened
to the bird songs
like an excited child
a small, wizened man
bald, with a pot belly
slouched in his chair
late one afternoon
unable to see me
or hear the birds
blind to his own demise.

Ken W. Simpson

If you have any comments on this poem, Ken W. Simpson would be pleased to hear from you.