A cardinal and her mate
fly from a direction
at the edges of dusk
to light on a hedge
for the scarlet berries.
Her modesty is only drawn away
at the beak and tail
with an orangish pinkish.
She took his name.
He wears his coat proudly
against the profoundest greens
this early autumn evening
hardly distracting the eye from colors
that rustle under the last
dawdling bits of summer.