A Weathered Nest

Clearly
in life’s final season,
gnarled
from countless storms,
she sits small
and bent,
tucked snugly
in her chair.
 
Bright sparrow eyes
peer
from a weathered nest
of wrinkled skin.
Crookedly
painted lips
recount
an oft repeated story.
 
Fragile hands,
transparent
as winter leaves
with delicately etched veins,
flutter;
then drift downward,
settling
on her white-blanketed lap.
 
 
published by Wayside Publications
in A Weathered Nest,
poetry chapbook
Copyright © 2004 Violet Toler