Part I

A mockingbird skips along,

slender myrtle limbs, 

pecking for edibles,

out of the corner of one

eye he spots me watching him

through our sunroom window.

His beak could peck seeds

from my open hand if it

were not for the glass 

separating our worlds.


A flock of Ibis swoops

over the river and then 

lands in our backyard,

lines up in a long arc 

that moves across the grass

in synchronized beauty,

curved yellow beaks bobbing

up and down 

feeding on whatever has 

invaded my home turf.


I open the front door

look up to enjoy the sky’s expanse

and spy an eagle gliding 

out of a cloud, first low

as if to assess his options,

then skyward again,

landing on the top of  

a dead tree by the river.


It’s the perfect perch for an

avian fisherman. His sharp

gaze turns first to the river

then toward me.

I feel his eye upon me.

I salute him.

He is king and knows it.


Part II

After I return inside,

our daughter calls 

with unexpected, good news;

my husband’s new recipe 

turns out, “delicious;” and,

before going to bed, I find

the earring I lost last week.


Part III

I hope tonight to

dream of bird visits—

in threes.




Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, short stories, and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in North Carolina Literary Review, Red Wolf, A Quiet Courage, A-3 Review, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Silver Birch, The Ekphrastic Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, and others all over the globe. Joan's first poetry chapbook, Languid Lusciousness with Lemon, is out from Finishing Line Press. Three of her smaller chapbooks are available free, online. She has been a Gilbert Chappelle fellow for NC writers and a featured performer for the North Carolina Story Guild. She has presented folk and personal tales on stage in venues up and down the East Coast of the US and via Zoom in many places around the world. Her writing and performances celebrate the value of the seemingly ordinary moment, and the joy of food, family, and friends. When not writing she likes to walk the beach and spend time over a good meal with family and friends.




Joan Leotta

Author, Story Performer

“Encouraging words through Pen and Performance”

Books in Print

Languid Lusciousness with Lemon, Finishing Line Press

Morning by Morning and Dancing Under the Moon, two free mini-chapbooks are at https://www.origamipoems.com/poets/257-joan-leotta