Poems by K.E. Duffin

Cedar Waxwings

by K.E. Duffin

From Canary Spring 2018

K.E. lives in the Mystic River watershed in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Your Excellency—

I report with a heavy heart
the deaths of two Chinese emissaries
recently sent from the Cloud Court.
Deceived by falsities—

a mere reflection of forest and sky above—
they never meant to die from a moment’s distraction.
(They were in love!)
Adorned with red fringe and yellow tassels, perfection

is the last urgent missive they would have us decode,
still warm, side by side, in their silken robes.