This day in May was gray.
Threatening to shower any moment.
Though holding off.
Instead, sprinkling aromas.
Empress blooms, lilacs, roses.
But, cloud cover stubborn.
Like a lid, heavy on a pot.
Warm enough for bunnies, squirrels to scamper.
Robins, cardinals, sparrows to flap about.
Woodpeckers to hammer on gutters.
For me to continue stepping.
Grabbing each dry second.
When suddenly hearing honk, honk, honk.
Father Goose leading his clan.
Babies now doubled in size.
Sprouting dark feathers.
Goslings waddling right up to me.
Mouths open as if expecting a treat.
My pockets, empty.
But, I thought, they deserved a snack.
Something to cheer them in the gloom.
So, I raced home.
For a container of cheerios.
Shaking it as I approached.
Like the woman feeding them weekday mornings.
They, recognizing the familiar rattle.
Came running toward me.
A mitzvah, I thought,
scattering the grain.
Downpours of cereal
instead of rain!
Lynn Benjamin
May 17, 2024
A mitzvah is a good deed in Hebrew.
