Cardinals: A Collection of Poems

By Theodore Parrish

I'm an 88 year old black man. I'm as retired as I can be, here in my rural home near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I spend my days watching the news, spending time with my wife, and looking out over the forest beyond, which I call "Mother Nature's Church." I watch the drama of trees and deer and birds. Among them, the cardinal is not only the state bird of North Carolina, but one of the only birds not to migrate in the winter. It stays through the cold and barren trees and survives in the snow. They endure adversity, and are still brilliant colored, frisky, and happily chirping. I really feel for the cardinals. 2020-2022 have thrown me many a curveball. 2023, I don't doubt, will throw me a few more, and it's getting harder to hit them out of the park. Fortunately, I have my poem! This book is a collection of poems about what I see around me: "Mother Nature's Church," the drama of the news, and the life lessons learned by myself and my own kin. They range from raw and frustrated to introspective and thoughtful, and even open old wounds of racism and abuse that still bleed, even now. I've lived a long life. I've seen a lot of change. I've put a lot of those changes into motion. Was it worth it? Read my poems and decide for yourself, because I'm happy with who I am.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CY1PJJKV
• ISBN13: 9798366391757
• Release Date: March 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 121 Pages
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.3" x 5.0"