my little dog
and I 
went on our 
morning walk

through our neighborhood
and the next

past
perfectly spaced annuals

old oaks, feet circled in pine straw

grass, even as a barbered flat top

but
it wasn’t until we took the
shortcut
between
this place and that

that we saw the cardinals playing

they danced and darted
through weeds and wild flowers
in and out of unkept honeysuckle 

as free

as the patch they had chosen