Genetics could be the sole factor
the same way roots of hemlocks
thirst for affection like toddlers,
some say it is an obscure type of
hermaphroditism, or some other theory
perhaps the reason pumice smells
the way it does, or the words
surface to life from the
lips of the newly awakened
shining like a natural sermon,
burning phosphorous and striking
the earth, beneath the polar auroras
yes, a yellow cardinal is
no rarer than the red
no less or more than any
other cardinal feeding from
the long patient seeds of time.
George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South China Morning Post, The Buffalo News, and more.