Meeting the Goldfinch

This morning
cold and snowy
I braved the wind
to put out seeds
for the birds.
A small goldfinch
huddled on the rail.
of the deck
protected from the storm.
He did not move
when I spread out the seeds
but cocked his head
and gazed at me
as if to say ---
“I know what you are doing.”
He did not fly away
when I moved toward
the door
but cocked his head again
I stretched out
one finger
enraptured
stroked his silken head
before he flew
to the shelter
of the hemlock tree

oh the awe!

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn."
- Henry David Thoreau