For photo illustration, click on: www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine/ (1) JASMINE (Jazzie) Two baby doves became very special loves when they were born on my porch flower planter. Sitting next to them in my Adirondack chair we had many "person-to-dove" talks. Light brown feathers, scalloped in white, soft, fuzzy down; the daily coo-cooing of their parents was a frequent, familiar sound. Jasmine, the older, growing stronger each day walked about the planter perched on the edge, cocked her head, preened and puffed her tiny wings in anticipation of flight. The day she soloed, flew into the trees I wasn't home to see. . . Now she's happily on her own though not full-grown; Mom and Dad show her how to feed on berries, insects, seeds, daily dietary needs (as she blends into her new world.) She remembers her home and one evening she lands on the rail. Delighted, I hail her, "Jazz, it's really you!" Quietly, she observes from her perch walks back and forth, then sits like a cat in the window, after sipping milk and cream, contented and serene. . . My Jasmine came to comfort me stayed a while. . .made me smile the evening her sibling, Little J passed away. Now and then, I see her feeding in the undergrowth beneath the trees, or she'll fly to the roof peer down, as if to stay "I'm still around!" Even though she's wild, this "feathered child" will always be partly mine. Visit the Beanery Online Literary Magazine at www.ProBlogs.com/beanerywriters Wednesday for the second poem, JEWEL. | 
